Xana
by Agent LastWish
Summary: When McGee during shot in an undercover assignment, the NCIS team comes into contacts with the most dangerous criminal they've ever faced: A 14 year old girl. McAbby and maybe some Tiva R&R! Now complete!
1. Prolog

I had this weird dream last night and decided that it would make a perfect story, and I wanted to get the prolog up before I forgot it. Remember, this is just the prolog, so it might be a bit confusing, but I promise, it will make more and more sense as the story progresses.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own NCIS nor do I own any of its characters. (Xana, however is mine)

Enjoy!

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><p><strong><span>PROLOG<span>:**

A corridor. A simple, long corridor. That's all that stood between her and freedom. Just a hollowed column of stainless steel grey. Her heart pounded as she ran. In her hand she clutched her freedom: a feather. Just a little robin's feather dyed grey to match these hopeless walls. Everything had been so perfectly thought out. Everything had been so perfectly rehearsed, over and over again. The corridor branched off to the right. She took it.

_Hurry, run! Run fast! They're coming! _She didn't turn around. Only stopped for a moment to listen. Voices. Four. That's all she needed to know. Footsteps. They're getting closer. She ran faster. The hall stopped, splitting in two directions: left or right? She'd memorized these hallways. She'd walked this path a thousand times, or more. The guards were getting nearer. She took to the right, it was dimly lit and better suited for hiding. The guards split up. Two went left, two went right. She watched as the guards passed her, fearful that her heart would give her away. Had they looked up, they would have found her. She waited for them to be out of sight, then waited a minuet more before sliding down to the ground again. You foolish, naive guards! You'll never find the oldest resident of this house of horrors: A fourteen year old Japanese girl. She is too clever for you.

_Be swift. Or they'll find your absence. _She ran back, and this time took the left. She ran, then slowed down. She looked closely at the air vents. 1... 2... 3... She stopped. 4. She carefully, silently, unscrewed the screws, and removed the vent. She slipped inside the air duct and climbed up. A whole path lay out in front of her. She crawled a long, counting the steel plates as she went by. 1... 2... 3... 4... 5... 6... 7... 8... 9... 10... 11... 12... 13... 14... 15... 16... 17, she stopped. She carefully removed the plate and looked at the intricate wiring underneath. She pulled off four hairs from her head and hooked them to the circuits. They would act as wires when she pulled the wires out. This also made sure the power wouldn't go off when she remove the wires. She snapped four of the wires and reassembled them in a different order before connecting them again. She didn't have any footage to loop the security cameras with, but this was the next best thing: she froze them. She moved three panels over, and did the same thing, but on a smaller, much more intricate level. By doing this, she added a 15 second delay to the alarm system.

She crawled back down the air duct and retraced her steps back to the original corridor. She continued to walk down the hall until she reached a heavy metal door with a hand scanner on it. She kicked the scanner, making sure that, if the door was closed, it would have to be manually opened. She slowly unscrewed the hand scanner and pulled it back, just enough to see behind it. There was a thin wire, like a single strand of hair, going from the back of the scanner, connecting to the alarm. She took a deep breath and ripped it off. The wire snapped. A tiny red light, began to flash, but there was no siren. 15 seconds. Go.

She removed a tiny panel and used the thin, flexible feather, to cut the wires with precise cuts. There was a tiny hole below a slit running along the left side of the panel. She gently eased the feather into the hole, then hit it with the palm of her hand, locking it into place. She then, began to reconnect all of the wires, except for two, which she left snapped. She jerked the feather upwards, through the slit. There was a faint clicking sound and the door slid open. 7 seconds. New personal best.

Behind the door was a long, dimly lit hallway. Even longer than the one she had just left behind. Voices could already be heard from a distance. There wasn't time to stand and gawk. She slammed the door behind her and ran, ran as fast as she could. There were thumping noises behind her. But the door remained steadfast to her and remained shut. The noises grew dimmer as she ran pasted them. Silence. For a long time, the only noise that was heard was the sound of her own heart pounding against her rib cage. Then shouting erupted. The lock must have been cracked. She had no choice but to run faster, faster, faster. Where was the second door? There were three doors that she must passed and she had only seen one so far.

There! Up a head. She saw the green glow of the hand scanner. She ran to the door, holding her breath. There was no time to hyperventilate. She kicked the scanner and followed up with the same procedure as she had with the last door. Finally. The relieving gentle click followed by the door swinging open. She passed through the second door and slammed it shut. A few yards ahead of her were a simple set of stairs. Beyond that, another hallway, and ultimately the third and final door. Freedom. Five long years awaited.

She had to be quick. The lock already seemed to be put under a great deal of stress. It wasn't long before it would… she sprinted up the stairs when she heard the deafening crack. They broke through. No, just a little farther. Finally, the third door. But her captors were getting ever closer. She broke the scanner, but this time, rewired the hardware inside in a manner that when the door closed, with the scanner being gone, would take hours to open the door manually. But this took time. Her captors were only a few meters away when the door clicked. She had no time. No time. She slipped inside and slammed the door as fast as she could. But was it good enough? Were all her efforts in vain? The door shut, leaving no evidence of there ever even being a door there. The shouts coming from the other side were those of frustration. Yes! Now she was safe. Now she was free.

He heart pounding against her chest, she took a good look around at her new surroundings. It was a small room. A closet. That's why no one came to find her. The laboratory was so well hidden. The door on the other end was a simple wooden one. It had a doorknob and a simple lock. She walked over to it and drove the heel of her foot through the doorknob snapping it off, breaking the lock. She walked outside but what she saw caught her off guard. Five, very surprised looking men were all pointing guns at her. What? There weren't supposed to be guards up here!

One guard walked towards the shocked looking little girl with a smug expression on his face. "I remember you." He said. "You're the little girl who tried to break out three years back. Hey, but don't give up. Try again in another three years. You know what they say, third time's the charm." He smirked and grabbed her arm.

Five years. She'd waited five years. She wasn't going back. Not now. She grabbed his arm and threw him to the ground. She kicked him in the nose. This is what she was trained to do. She wasn't going to give up now. Not now. Not ever. The man pointed his gun up at her but she was too swift, and kicked it away. Both she and him lunged at it, but she got there first. Of course, the four other men who were watching stood up in efforts to help. Four rounds were shot. But of course, none of them hit her. She was trained to evade even bullets. They trained her. Five shots. Four men lay dead at her feet, and one lay alive, dying in his own blood. She walked over to him and crouched by his side.

"Where is Jonathan Franks?" She whispered.

"Why would I tell you? I'm dying anyways." He choked on his blood.

"Because, you're still alive. And as long as you're still alive, you can still feel pain. You know that. After all, you helped teach me. Remember?" She hissed, her words cold as ice.

His eyes narrowed. He knew. "The park on 23rd street. He's there. He's always there on Thursday night." He whispered.

She stood up and nodded. Still clutching the gun, she sealed it away. She walked away, and left him to die. But upon one glance back, he was already dead. She walked on, but stopped when she reached outside. It was night. She closed her eyes as the wind brushed against her face. Wind. She'd forgotten what wind felt like. She opened her eyes, staring at the graffiti on the wall opposite to her. She glanced up at the trees, their leaves blowing in the wind.

_Green. I'd forgotten what green looks like. I'd forgotten what color looks like. Five years it too long. Too long. The others have never seen color before. Such beauty. They have never known it. Some day, I will return. Someday, I will free you all. Then you'll know. Then you'll know color. You'll see what the sky and grass _really_ look like. You'll know what it's like to feel the sun on your face, the mud between your toes. I promise, you'll know._

Green, red, orange, yellow, blue, purple, these were none of her concern now. She had one mission to complete now. Then she'd stop and stare. Then she'd return. Not to stay. Never to stay. Never again. She ran on. The moon lighting her path. She missed the moon. She missed the silver stars. The stars.

_And those twinkling lights up there, are the stars. There here so that we won't feel alone in the dark!_

Not now. Please, I'm coming to get you. To bring you home.

The lights of the city… they were all like stars… she ran along. The park. It was so beautiful. So green. She looked around. So many people were here. She walked around, looking for the one she wanted. There he was. Sitting at a table. His light brown hair was the same, but his green eyes… his eyes seemed different somehow. He looked the same, but at the same time, not. It was weird. He was just sitting there, reading a news paper. She sat across from him. There was something in his ear… she could just see it… an ear-bud… how strange…

"Jonathan Franks?" She asked in a hushed whisper. At first he didn't respond. Almost as though he had forgotten his name… then he looked up. He had a confused look behind his eyes.

"Yes?" He asked. He sounded different.

She narrowed her eyes. "Where's Sakura and Sousuke?" She hissed.

"What?"

"Where are they?" Her voice filled with anger. "Where's my brother and sister?"

"I don't know!" He said. He seemed to be caught off guard.

"El Diablo took them didn't he!"

"El Diablo is dead!"

"No he isn't! I know he isn't!"

"Yes he is!"

"You thought I was dead, too! But here I am! Tell me where they are!" She was just on the verge of shouting. She revealed the gun below the table. Jonathan's eyes widened. Although he seemed angry, there was fear in his eyes.

"Sakura and Sousuke. Where. Are. They." Her voice was icy.

"I told you, I don't know! I never had anything to do with that!" He shouted.

"Liar!" She stood up and shot him in the stomach. Jonathan fell out of his chair, his face twisted in pain, blood pooling around him. There were several shouts and screams coming from the group of people on their dates, or walking their dogs in the park. Of all of the shouting, there were three voices that were the most prominent.

"McGee!" It was the voice of an older man. It sounded stern, but shocked and worried, and almost horrified.

"Man down! Man down!" This voice belonged to a younger man. There was just the slightest hint of an Italian accent. It was filled with shock and horror.

"Director, McGee's been shot!" The third voice belong to a woman. She had an Israeli accent, and sounded as though she was talking on a phone or something.

"McGee?" The young shooter asked herself in confusion, looking down at the man's pained face. She stumbled back upon seeing the NCIS badge. "You're not Franks!" Horror struck her and she ran away, leaving the three other people to try to save their friend.

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><p>Please review! If you have any suggestions, or ways I could improve the quality of my work, I would love, with all my heart, to hear them! Thanks!<p> 


	2. Chapter 1: Jonathan Franks

Just a little FYI, the events of chapters 1 and 2 will take place a few day before the prolog. I know the plot is still a bit confusing, but it will get a bit more straightened out as the plot goes on.

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><p><strong>-THREE DAYS EARLIER-<strong>

It is often crisp October mornings, much like this one, that bring about a looming sense of tension and darkness. Like the still silence of a storm; The dark clouds choke the air with quiet tension, while the world below waits for that deadly first strike. Anthony DiNozzo, or Tony as he preferred to be called, could feel this storm's warning, as he stepped out of the van to get a better look at the two dead bodies lying on the asphalt in a lonely ally downtown. Both of them were men, one in his mid-twenties, the other, much older; maybe in his late forties, or early fifties. The younger man was Petty Officer Conner Rowe. Or at least, that's what his dog tags said. The older man didn't have any form of identification, however, there was something about him, -Tony couldn't place it- that looked very familiar. The older man had short, scraggily, red-ish brown hair, and dark green eyes. At first Tony thought he looked a bit like McGee -perhaps his doppelganger-, but there was still something, something about him, that was so familiar, but he couldn't put a name to it.

"Gibbs wants us to take photos and look for the murder weapon, which Ducky guesses to be a nine millimeter." Ziva said, her stealth rendering Tony surprised when she spoke. The Israeli ninja agent had an uncanny way of sneaking up on people then startling them. It wasn't quiet like Gibbs. No, she seemed to do it more for the pleasure of watching her co-workers jump like frightened children.

"Thanks." Tony replied, trying not to looked embarrassed that his nerves had gotten the best of him again. He did not what the former Mossad agent thinking that she could get away with her pranks.

Ziva gave a curt nod and handed him his camera. She turned away to find McGee. Her silence. Tony could tell. Ziva felt the tension too. Something bad was going to happen. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon. This body could lead to a chain reaction of events that would seem to change everything.

The team did their duty in silence. Not even Mr. Palmer attempted to make a wise crack about the scene. Even Ducky remained silent as he worked. The tension was there. And it was unbearable. After Ducky discussed his preliminary findings with Gibbs, the Petty Officer and the John Doe were loaded into the van to be taken back to Autopsy.

"I found a bloody pipe!" McGee called out, handing the bag to Gibbs. They searched a bit more, but Ziva, Tony and McGee could find nothing new to add to the investigation, at this point, so they too, were loaded into the van to return to NCIS.

…

"Whatcha got for me, Duck?" Gibbs asked as he walked into Autopsy.

"Ah yes, well, do you remember how I said that the John Doe had died two hours before the Conner Rowe?" Ducky asked, to refresh Gibbs' memory.

"Duck, did you call me down here just to remind me of that?" Gibbs asked, slightly annoyed.

"Ah, no. Well, you see, I was wrong about my original estimate for the time of death. Our Petty Officer had a mild flu when he was killed. More importantly, he had a fever at the time. So the time it would take for his body to cool down, would have taken longer than our John Doe." Ducky explained.

Gibbs nodded. "Mm hm. Go on."

"So, both the Petty Officer and our John Doe died around the same time. Five hours before we found them in the ally. I can also confirm that the cause of death, for the Petty Officer, was indeed, blunt force trauma to the head. Probably from that pipe McGee found. On the other hand, our John Doe died from a gun shot wound." He pointed out the circular hole in the man's chest. "Looks like it nicked his right coronary artery. I sent the pipe, and the bullet up to Abigail for analysis."

Gibbs nodded. "Thanks, Duck." He said and turned around as he started to leave.

"But, Jethro, that's not why I asked you down here." The Englishman called out.

Gibbs narrowed his eyes and turned around. He walked back over to Ducky. "What do you mean? What else do you got?" He asked, sort of confused.

"Jethro, I was wrong about my first estimate for time of death, but my second estimate for time of death is not wrong. Our John Doe died at least seven minuets after the Petty Officer was dead. Someone else killed our John Doe." Ducky said, his voice grim.

"Are you sure?" Gibbs asked.

"I'd be willing to stake my career on it."

…

"Hey, Abs, you got something for me?" Gibbs asked as he walked into the Lab of Abby (or Labby as she called it), Caf-Pow! in hand.

"So I found something that was kind of hinky." Abby said, taking a sip of the Caf-Pow!

"What?" Gibbs asked.

"Ducky was right. Well, that's night the hinky part, because Ducky's always right…"

"Abby!" Gibbs said trying to snap Abby back to reality.

"Sorry. But the point is, the bullet that was used to kill our John Doe came from a nine mil. Petty Officer Conner Rowe did not own a nine mil. There was a third shooter."

"Thanks, Abs."

"Gibbs, I'm not done. I got a hit on our John Doe's identity, and you're not going to like it." Abby said cautiously.

Gibbs raised an eyebrow. "Who is he?"

"Jonathan Franks." Abby shuttered.

Gibbs narrowed his eyes.

"I already notified McGee and Tony and Ziva. I think they're looking for connections." Abby said. As if on cue, McGee ran down, hold a small file.

"Boss, we found a connection." He said frantically.

"Well what is it, McGee?" Gibbs asked, exasperated.

"The Petty Officer's older sister, Tammy Rowe." McGee said. "According to her phone records, she's been in contact with Franks since about three weeks ago. And house is in walking distance of the ally. According to her phone's GPS, she was in the house an hour before the murder. Then the phone was shut off."

"Well, get DiNozzo and bring her in for interrogation!" Gibbs barked.

…

About two hours later, Tony and Ziva were watching from the other side of the glass, as McGee and Gibbs interrogated Tammy Rowe. She had long straight red hair, and dark blue eyes. She looked sort of pale, like she was sick. When Tony and McGee went to get her, she didn't put up very much of a fight. She was defiantly sick. Suddenly, Gibbs and McGee walked into the interrogation room.

"Tammy Rowe?" Gibbs asked.

"Yeah that's me. Mind telling me why I'm here?" She asked, coldly.

Gibbs sat down in a chair. "Did you know your brother's dead?" Gibbs asked.

"What? No! Oh my gosh… when did it happen?" She asked, horrified.

Gibbs ignored the question and pulled out a picture of Jonathan Franks. "Do you know this man?" He asked.

"Yeah, I used to work with him and date him." She said.

"Well he's dead too. He killed your brother and someone killed him. Tell me, what was he doing in that ally with your brother?" He asked.

Tammy narrowed her eyes. She looked too exhausted to try and lie her way out. So she got straight to the point. "He was trying to recruit my brother." She said.

"Recruit him for what?" McGee piped in.

"Nineteen years ago, Franks and I got involved in some stuff. It wasn't like a drug dealing thing, it was a laboratory project. You see we both got PhDs in engineering, and Franks had some in some other stuff. Franks actually helped to start it. The project, I mean. He was partners with El Diablo, they both invented this project and ran it together. I was sort of like their right hand man." She said.

"El Diablo?" McGee asked. He knew the name sounded familiar…

"He was a huge drug dealer, weapons dealer, murderer, and kidnapper. He died five years ago in an explosion." Gibbs clarified.

"He had a PhD degree in engineering, chemistry, anatomy, and a couple of other sciences, too. It's a wonder to me how a man like that became the criminal he was. But the thing is, he wasn't using the money in the way you might think that he was. He was using it to fund this project." Tammy said. "I knew the project was illegal, but got involved in it because it seemed like a good cause."

"What was the work you were doing for?" Gibbs asked.

"I didn't know. I knew I was going work, but I never knew what it was I was doing it for, or even where that lab I was working in was."

"You didn't even know where you were working?" McGee asked. It sounded ridiculously stupid. "How could you not know where you were working?"

Tammy shot him an angry glare. "It was very top secret. They picked me up from home everyday, in a big black van. They put me in the back, and blindfolded me, so I wouldn't know where it was I was going. That's what they do with all of the employees. They hire people to car pool the employees to work, so they don't know where they are going. If they were worried that you might spill the location of the lab, or what the work was, they would kill you." She explained.

Gibbs and McGee looked at each other. This case was going to be a lot harder than they had originally anticipated.

Tammy spoke up again. "I didn't find out what kind of work I was doing until about five years ago. That's when Xana was reintroduced into the project. They'd been looking for Xana for almost nine years."

This had gotten McGee's interest peaked. "Xana?" He asked.

"Xana. Identification code: 4X92A-V77Q5T." Tammy responded.

"Boss, do you want me to run that code?" McGee whispered to Gibbs.

"What are you expecting to find?" Tammy smirk. "You won't find anything. El Diablo is far to careful about that."

McGee sighed. Tammy was probably right. "Well, Tammy. Will you at least tell us what kind of program Xana is?" He asked.

Tammy laughed. Her laughter caught even Ziva and Tony by surprise. What could possibly be so funny? Tammy took a few moments to catch her breath. She gave a cold smile and looked McGee in the eye. "Xana is not some sort of computer code or sensor hacking project. Xana is a little girl."

This was one moment when the surprise and tension were sp great, it took even Gibbs words away. The silence seemed to choke the room. Finally McGee asked another question and broke the silence. "Xana… is she El Diablo's daughter?"

"No. And I assure you that if she was, she would have been treated with much more compassion than she was given. They all would have been given farm more compassion." She sighed.

"Who is "all of them" referring to?" Gibbs asked.

Tammy sighed a sad tired sigh. "Let's just say, that if you were to go bursting into that lab, guns blazing, you wouldn't have just one child's life to worry about. Try more along the lines of two-hundred and fifty, give or take." She coughed as a sickly spasm shook her body. "I know my own time. You said you wanted to know who killed Jonathan Franks. I'll tell you, I did it. He killed my brother when he refused to join. So I killed him." She confessed.

"Why would you just go out and tell us like that?" Gibbs asked.

"Because. You weren't quick enough. El Diablo got to me first." She rolled up her sleeve and showed him the bump where a small resin pellet was embedded in her left arm. "I estimate you've got about ten minuets left to interrogate me." She smiled, cold as ice.

"You said El Diablo had gotten to you first. El Diablo is dead." Gibbs said, coldly.

"Not true. You never found his body. He staged his own death a few weeks after he kidnapped Xana. He told his partner, Franks, and myself about his plan, but no one else. He said that cops were getting to close. If they found him, everything would be ruined. So he instructed Franks to run the project, and myself to go off the radar until he returned. Then he staged his own death and went into hiding. But about a year ago, Franks called me up and said El Diablo was going return." She stopped, hand went into a coughing fit.

"Wait, Diablo is alive?" Tony asked Ziva, behind the glass.

In the interrogation room, Tammy started to talk again. "Franks was instructed to go to the park on 23rd street every Thursday night, at 9:00 pm., and was supposed to stay there for a half an hour. Every Thursday night, he would go to the park and wait. Someone would approach him, after a while. Sometimes it was a kid, sometimes an old grandpa, sometimes it was just some random guy out walking his dog. But they would approach him and give him a letter. Just a single letter. One week it would be 'M'. Then the next would be 'E'. The week after might be an 'A' or something. The point is, he would be told one letter a week, and after a very long time, it would spell out El Diablo's location, and the date and location of when and where he would return."

"But why do it that way. It would take an unethical amount on time." McGee said.

"Maybe. But it kept him under the radar." She broke into another coughing fit. "When Franks doesn't show this Thursday, El Diablo will figure out that he's dead. Then he'll never be caught. And that is my only regret. El Diablo deserves to die."

"Tammy, tell me. Why did El Diablo want kill you in the first place?" Gibbs asked.

"Because I told Franks that I quit the business. El Diablo must have found out." She whispered.

"Why did you quit?"

"Because… I found out what he was doing… with Xana and the rest of the kids. I wouldn't be a part of it. They way they have to live… not knowing color or freedom or love… it's not right… Funny, and he wonders why they die like that…" She drifted off.

"Tammy, Tammy! Listen to me. What is he doing with those kids? How are they dying?" Gibbs asked.

"I don't… have time… to explain… Haroshimoto… look it up… help you know Diablo… and his… victims… Xana… and her… history…" She was slipping fast.

"Tammy! I need to know!"

"… Haroshimoto… All I… tell you… anymore… ten minuets… is up." It was sad to watch. A lot of things had happened in Interrogation over the years. And it wasn't the first time someone had died there. But it was always would be hard to watch. Not even Ducky could do a thing about it.

"McGee! Ziva! DiNozzo! Find all you can about Haroshimoto! Go! And DiNozzo, call Ducky!" Gibbs barked. He thought El Diablo was out of his hair a long time ago. But still, the worst was yet to come.


	3. Chapter 2: Family

So, this chapter also takes place a day or so before the prolog. The last part of the chapter, though, takes place on the same day as the prolog. I know that I posted ch. 1 today, but I was on a roll, so I decided to post this one too. Enjoy!

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><p>"Haroshimoto isn't the name of a single person," Tony said as Gibbs walked into the bullpen. "It's a family name. You know, a last name?"<p>

"Whose in the family?" Gibbs asked, sipping his coffee.

"The father's name is Terou. The mother's name is Kiyomi." Ziva piped in.

"They have four children. The oldest, a daughter named Etsumi, a son named Ryouji, a daughter named Xana, and twins; a boy named Sousuke, and a girl named Sakura." McGee interrupted.

Tony glared at McGee and Ziva for stealing his mojo. "Etsumi is married to a man named Nayoto Shion. They have daughter named Ayumi and a son named Genji."

"Xana Haroshimoto. I still do no understand why she is so important." Ziva exclaimed.

"Neither do I." Gibbs agreed.

"About seven years ago, the Haroshimoto family got together on the 4th of July for a BBQ and fireworks. They were just firing up the grill when the house exploded." Tony said.

"How old were they?" Ziva asked, horrified. She had obviously not done her homework.

"Etsumi was twenty-three, Ryouji was thirteen, Xana was seven, Sakura and Sousuke were three, Ayumi was two, and Genji was just three months old." Tony answered.

Gibbs looked up at the family picture on the flat screen. "Were there any survivors?" he asked.

Tony opened his mouth to answer but McGee cut in. "Ryouji, Xana, Sakura, Sousuke, and Ayumi. The first four were probably playing outside when it happened. But Ayumi was inside. It was a miracle that she survived."

"Where are they now?" Gibbs asked, taking another sip of his coffee.

"After the explosion, they went to an orphanage. About eight months passed and, after Ayumi was adopted out, they were moved to a different orphanage. They ran away about a month later, leaving behind a note that specified that they didn't want to be split up anymore. They went off the radar for about six months, but then Ryouji turned up dead, shot in the heart. It looks like he was protecting his siblings." McGee concluded.

"They went off the radar again. There was a news report about five years back about a nine year old Japanese girl who was kidnapped. There was some footage shot from a security camera. On it, there was a little girl pleading with some man. She was saying that if he would let her brother and sister go, she would go with him." Tony added.

"Yeah, hey Boss, I bet that nine year old girl was Xana. The other two people must have been Sakura and Sousuke. And the man was probably El Diablo! That's probably footage of her being kidnapped, and why El Diablo faked his own death." McGee said.

"From there, Sakura and Sousuke were supposed to be dropped off at an orphanage, but they never got there." Ziva chimed in.

Gibbs grunted in response. He stared at the different pictures for a long time, as if contemplating something. It was several moments before he finally spoke up again. "What about Ayumi? Where is she?"

Err, hold on, Boss." Tony said. He ran to his computer and pulled up all records of the little girl. "She was adopted to her new family, the Smiths, who moved to Denver, Colorado, just after adoption." He said.

"Are they still there?" Gibbs asked.

"No, Boss. They moved back to D.C. about a year ago." McGee cut in.

"DiNozzo, McGee, I want you two to go and find out all that you can about that 4th of July, seven years ago, from that little girl." Gibbs ordered.

"On it, Boss!" DiNozzo said and stood up.

"… Tomorrow. Go home. All three of you. It's been a long day." Gibbs said.

…

McGee and DiNozzo pulled up into the drive way of the Smiths at around four pm. the next day. That had to wait until four because Ayumi was in school, and school didn't let out until three-fifteen. They walked up to the front door and ran the doorbell.

"Hi, what can I do for you?" Mrs. Smith asked when she opened the door.

"Mrs. Smith?" McGee asked. The woman nodded. "Sorry to bother you. NCIS. Is you daughter home? Ayumi?"

"Yes. Hold on. Ayumi! You have visitors! Sorry, why don't you come in. Make yourselves at home." Tony nodded and walked in. The two very special agents sat on the couch and waited for the eight year old girl.

"Hiya!" The little girl said and she bounded downstairs.

"Hi, are you Ayumi?" McGee asked.

"Yep! That's me! That's me!" She said and danced around, happily.

"I'm sorry. She's just excited. She made it into the school play. She got one of the lead roles, actually." Mrs. Smith said.

Tony smiled. "That's great!"

Ayumi bounced around for a little while before she finally sat down on the couch. "So what's up? Why do you wanna talk to me?" She asked.

"Well, we want to ask you about your family." McGee said. He was going to have to bring up adoption, and he was trying to figure out a way to let it down lightly.

"Which family. This family, or my _real_ family?" She asked. McGee felt relieved that she already knew that she was adopted.

"Your real family." Tony said.

"Do you remember what happened on the fourth of July, seven years ago?" McGee asked.

Ayumi looked down, somber. "Sort of. It's like a dream. You don't remember all, but you remember sort of." She said. Then she pointed to the huge scar that marred her beautiful face and clawed down her arms and legs. "I know that's when I got this. When I found out I was adopted, I knew that it wasn't 'cause my family didn't love me. And I was right. My family did love me, but they died in the fire that hurt me." She looked down. Suddenly her face lit up. "Oh, wait right here!" She said, frantically. She booked it upstairs and was gone for a long time.

McGee and DiNozzo both looked at each other, sort of confused. Suddenly, Ayumi ran back downstairs with a burned up, old video cassette tape, in her hand. She took hold of McGee's hand and led him into the family room, where a big TV was. She pushed in the video and played it.

It was an old family home video of the 4th of July a couple years back. It was sort of destroyed, but it was still intact enough to hear and watch it.

"A few years ago, a police man, kinda like you, came to my house with this and asked me if I wanted to know what my _real_ family was like." She watched for a minuet and stood up, walking towards the screen.

"That's my mommy, and my daddy." She said pointing to two people on the screen. She kept pointing at the different people. "That's My grandpa and my grandma. That's my uncle Ryouji, my aunt Xana, and my aunt Sakura and uncle Sousuke. It's kinda funny 'cause they're not much bigger than me." She smiled when she saw another little boy, much younger, on the screen. "And that's my brother, Genji. And that's me!" She said. Suddenly, she fell silent, and watched the film.

"_Ayumi, don't you want to tell your brother you love him?" Ayumi's mother asked the tiny infant Ayumi, who looked very tired, lying in her cradle._

"_No! Wanna go bed!" Whined the tiny little girl._

"_Are you sure?" The mother asked_

_The little infant Ayumi just shook her head._

McGee looked over at Ayumi, who was very silent. She looked so sad. "Ayumi, what's wrong?" He asked, softly.

Ayumi wouldn't meet his eyes. "Why didn't I tell him I loved him?" She asked, trying to hold back tears. But the tears just wanted to come out. "He's my brother! And I was too lazy to bother telling him I loved him. Now he's dead, and I can't tell him I love him. He died, not knowing that I loved him." She said, sadly.

"Hey, listen. Even though you didn't tell him, he knows. That's the cool part about being brother and sister. They know you love them with out you telling them." McGee tried to comfort her.

Ayumi looked up at McGee with big, sad eyes. "Do you got a brother or a sister?" She asked.

McGee raised an eyebrow and nodded. "Yeah. I got a little sister. Her name's Sarah." He said.

"Well, you gotta tell her you love her all the time, or she'll forget. And you gotta tell her you love her right now, because, if you don't, you might never ever get the chance again. Then you'll be sad, like me. And I like you. I don't want you to be sad." She said.

McGee sort of stared off into space. No words could come to him. This little, eight year old girl, was right. He had to tell her he loved her. But he wasn't thinking about Sarah. No, he was thinking about a certain forensic scientist. Abby. He loved her.

…

It was Thursday night, nine pm. McGee was sitting out in the park, waiting. He didn't know who he was waiting for, just yet. Right now he was someone he was not. He was attempting to pass off as Jonathan Franks. So far, he though it was working. All he had to do was just sit there. Nothing could go wrong, right?

"_Scared, Probie?"_ Tony asked, talking through his ear-bud, jostling McGee from his thoughts.

"No, Tony. Shut up." McGee snapped.

"_Oh, not very nice." _Tony said smugly. McGee rolled his eyes.

"What exactly am I looking for, Boss?" He asked.

"_You're not looking for anything. You're waiting."_ Gibbs responded.

"Waiting for what?"

"_Oh, well, gee McGee, if I knew, I don't think we'd need to have you out there undercover!" _Gibbs said, exasperated.

"Sorry, Boss." McGee said. He pulled out his news paper and began to read. He had some time to kill. The silence went on for a long time, and it kind of drove McGee crazy. He just wanted someone to stand up and say something. But no one did. After about ten minuets, a little Japanese girl -McGee guessed to be around fourteen years old- approached him and sat across from him. McGee guess that she was the one who would have told Franks the next letter, but he couldn't have been more wrong. It was silent for several moments, before she spoke up.

"Jonathan Franks?" She asked in a hushed whisper. At first he didn't respond. It had taken a moment to remember that _he _was Jonathan Franks. He looked up at her.

"Yes?" He asked. His heart was pounding from adrenalin. He tried to stop himself from shaking as he spoke.

The girl narrowed her eyes at his response. He was expecting some sort of code or just the letter. But the response he got, totally threw him off guard. "Where's Sakura and Sousuke?" She hissed.

"What?" He asked, trying not to sound like he was panicking. But really, he was. Was this some sort of test that he couldn't pass because he wasn't Jonathan Franks?

"Where are they?" Her voice filled with anger. "Where's my brother and sister?"

"I don't know!" He said. It was at this point that he realized that she was being sincere.

"El Diablo took them didn't he!"

McGee's heart raced at the mention of his name. So he said what he though Jonathan Franks might in this situation. "El Diablo is dead!"

"No he isn't! I know he isn't!" There was anger in her voice. No, more than anger. Hatred.

"Yes he is!" McGee did his best to argue against her, even though he knew she was right. But he had to stay in character.

"You thought I was dead, too! But here I am! Tell me where they are!" She was just on the verge of shouting. Her words stung McGee. There was something about them… something about her… it was all to familiar. She revealed the gun below the table. McGee's eyes widened. She actually believed that he was Franks. If this was true, then she might actually shoot him if he did say something.

"Sakura and Sousuke. Where. Are. They." Her voice was icy. It was at that moment that McGee realized who he was talking to. Xana.

"I told you, I don't know! I never had anything to do with that!" This time, he wasn't pretending to be Franks. He was speaking truthfully, as McGee, trying hard not to say something that would get him shot.

"Liar!" She screamed. McGee knew that he had screwed up. He was dead. She stood up and shot him in the stomach. McGee fell out of his chair. If there had been any air left in his lungs, he would have cried out in a bloodcurdling scream. The pain was almost immediately overwhelming. Blood pooled around him, and he was vaguely aware of the shouts and screams coming from the people around him.

"Tim!" It was the voice of an older man. It sounded stern, but shocked and worried, and almost horrified. Gibbs. This must have been Gibbs. His senses dulled and the pain went numb.

_What on earth could have happened to make Gibbs scream like that? _McGee wondered, the pain making him delirious.

"Man down! Man down!" This voice belonged to a younger man. There was just the slightest hint of an Italian accent. It was filled with shock and horror. Tony. Was this some sort of prank? Were his fingers glued to the keyboard? The weird thing was, he couldn't feel his fingers anymore.

"_What's going on out there? Someone reply!" _This voice was soft and sweet, but also filled with worry. It was Director Shepard's voice. But where was Jenny? She was speaking in his mind… The ear-buds didn't even occur to Tim at the time.

"Director, McGee's been shot!" The third voice belong to a woman. She had an Israeli accent, and sounded as though she was talking on a phone or something. Ziva. He kinda liked Ziva. Not like he liked Abby… but she was pretty…

Tim looked up. There was someone standing over him. She was smaller than everybody else. She had black hair and grey eyes… She was like a teenager… but he couldn't figure out who she was. There was a confused expression on her face. "Your not Franks!" She said. He wanted to asked who Franks was, but it was far too painful to talk. He watched in slow motion as the confused look on her face changed to that of horror. Then she ran off.

Tony and Gibbs knelt down by the young agent, and McGee became aware of three shots being fired from Ziva's weapon towards the girl. But none of them hit her. He winced and gasped. The pain became unbearable. Suddenly, Ziva was there next to him, too.

"Just lay still, Tim. You are going to be alright." Ziva said. McGee looked up at her. There was pain in her eyes. There was pain in Tony and Gibbs' eyes, too. Were they OK? He hoped they weren't hurt.

"Don't worry. You're not gonna die. You don't have permission to die." Gibbs said sternly. McGee was only able to give half a nod. Then the pain became stronger, and everything went black.

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><p>Thanks for reading, please reveiw!<p> 


	4. Chapter 3: Disappearing

So the first part takes place in the laboratory we first saw in the prolog. I really need to know if I should continue this story. So please tell me if you think I should or should not continue. Thanks!

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><p>"Sir, C012-33HY is going," The man who spoke had short cropped brown hair and brown eyes. He was wearing a grey suit with black shoes and a black tie. Actually, so was every else in the room. The room itself had grey concrete walls and floors. Blindingly bright florescent lights lined the ceiling. There was dozens and dozens of computers and monitors in the room, and one monitor was flashing. On the monitor was just a simple outline of a person. There were several pixels coming off of the outline, as though it were dissolving.<p>

"His name is Tobias," The men turned around to see just one small, six years old girl standing at the door looking quite angry. She had dark brown hair and grey eyes. She was wearing a grey shirt and grey jeans. "Xana gave him that name. She said that he reminded her of a man who had once helped her, protected her." She said. Her glare penetrated the souls of the men in the room.

"Silence! EED8-97IL, this is not your place to speak!" One of the men said. He was tall and sort of burly looking. He spoke with a Mexican accent. This was no doubt, El Diablo. He had returned.

"I am not a number! My name is Hestia! Hestia, Hestia, Hestia!" She shouted, stomping her foot on the ground. El Diablo hit her face, hard, as punishment.

"You are not to speak out of turn!"

"You think you're scary to me?" Hestia asked. "You're not! Not anymore, at least! You all think you're so great, but you're not! Twice Xana got away from you! But this time, you won't catch her. She promised me she wouldn't let you catch her… But if she can do it, so can we!"

El Diablo growled with discontent, and raised his arm to hit her again. But she caught it, twisting it around, and applying enough pressure to snap it. Sure enough, there was a horrible cracking sound, followed by a painful squeal.

"You think you can take us down, but you can't! Isn't that what you designed us to do?" She asked letting go.

"You were designed to obey _us, _your creators!"

Hestia scowled, her eyes filled with hatred. "You may have designed us, you may have reconfigured our DNA, but you did not create us." She hissed, her words sharp as steel, cold as ice.

"You two!" El Diablo pointed to two of the other men in the room. "Escort _this_ back to her cell. The rest of you, come with me!" He barked. The two men rushed at Hestia and drug her out of the room and away. She didn't put up a fight, she couldn't take down them all… yet. The rest of the men followed El Diablo out of the room. They walked briskly down the hall. They walked down the corridor until they got to room 203. El Diablo pressed his hand up against the hand scanner and waited for the door to unlock. After the gentle click, the door slid open.

The room inside was about as big as a classroom. The room was divided by wall of glass. The side El Diablo and his men were in was only one fifth the size of the other side. On the other side of the glass wall were a bunch of treadmills and other workout equipment. There were about fifty people in there. Fifteen were guards, and the other thirty five were all six year olds. All of the six year olds had grey eyes and either black, brown or blonde hair. There were no red-heads. They were all wearing grey shirts and grey jeans. They were all hooked up to a bunch of wires and suction cup like things. All of these kids, were basically like lab rats. They were being trained and studied at the same time. It was cruel, actually.

El Diablo walked over to a small metal box on one side of the wall. It was a microphone. He pressed the button and spoke. "C012-33HY, bring him here." His voice boomed over the loud speaker. Two guards walked over to a skinny looking boy and grabbed his arms. The lifted him off the ground and drug him over to the wall. All of the other kids tried to stop long enough to watch. There was a terrified look on his face. He didn't know what was going on. How could he? No one had told him. El Diablo watched, from the other side of the glass, as the expression on the little boys face became one of horror and shock. Realization hit him, and his eyes became sad. A tiny, glowing blue light came off of him and floated away. Then another, and another. Soon there were hundreds of the tiny, glowing blue specks coming off of him. The light became stronger, until El Diablo though he saw the little boy becoming translucent. Tobias actually was becoming translucent. He was fading away, disappearing. He looked up and gave Jay one last, sad look, and the tiny lights enveloped him. They all floated away, and the little boy was gone. He was gone forever.

One of the younger, probably newer scientists, looked at his boss with a look of pure shock. "Sir, where is he? What happened to him?" He asked.

"I am afraid," El Diablo said, although there was so emotion in his voice. "that C012-33HY is dead."

"What? How? What was happening to him?" The greenie asked.

"I am afraid that this had become a growing problem here. They all seem to disappear like that. Most of them don't live to see age twelve. Although, there are a few that are twelve and thirteen. So far, Xana was the only one who had made it to age fourteen. I don't know what it is, but most of them go between ages ten to twelve." El Diablo shook his head, pretending to be sad.

"But how does it happen, sir?"

"We don't know for sure, but we believe that it is because their DNA is so unstable, it pulls itself apart, and dissolves."

"So those blue lights…"

"Were probably DNA dissolving? Yes." El Diablo interrupted.

"Can it be stopped?" He asked.

"We don't know. We've been looking for some way to stop it, by studying the children when their DNA gets to a certain stress level." El Diablo clarified. "Of course, it is the stress level that makes disappearing inevitable. Sometimes it will take several months before they reach the point where they start disappear. Sometimes, like in that young boy's case, it will only take a moment for them to reach the point where they disappear." El Diablo shook his head again. From the group of scientists, one, and older, bald man, stepped forward.

"If I may, why not hire someone to help study them? Maybe they'll help us find a 'cure'." He said.

El Diablo raised an eyebrow. "Who do you have in mind?"

"A woman I once worked with. She is a very capable scientist. Her name is Abigail Sciuto."

"Very well. You there!" El Diablo pointed to another scientist. "Go look up this 'Abigail Sciuto' and run her records." The young scientist nodded and ran out the door. He was gone only a few minuets before he ran back in with a large, thick file. El Diablo read over the file and handed it back.

"Very well. Find her. Tell her we need her help. Hundreds of lives depend on her work, after all." El Diablo smiled, cold as ice.

"But, sir! If she has to study the children, she'll need to enter the lab! We can't let her do that! No one can know the location of our project!" One of the scientists exclaimed.

El Diablo scowled. Suddenly, one of his head advisors piped up. "I know, why don't we send one of the children to her? One whose stress level has already peaked? That way, even if they see the outside world, it won't matter! They're disappearance is already inevitable. "

El Diablo's face lit up in a devious smile. "Yes… yes… some one get Miss Sciuto on the phone."

"But sir… who will we send?"

El Diablo looked forward to a little girl, running her heart out. "Hestia. We'll send Hestia. Her stress level peaked two days ago. Besides, I'd love to get that little rat out of my hair."

…

Abby sat quietly, solemly by McGee's bedside. She squeezed his hand tightly, trying desperately to keep the tears from falling. Besides Tim, Abby was the only other person in the room; Gibbs, Tony and Ziva had long since left to catch the monster who had done this to poor Timmy. It didn't matter if the girl who had shot him was just a teenager, she cold have killed him! There we no excuse on her that could justify her actions. Abby kept telling herself this, but there was a little part of her, like that quit nagging voice, that told her she was wrong. Abby looked down at McGee's still face, a thick tube protruding from his mouh to the ventilator that was keeping him alive while he recovered from surgery. The room was silent except for the ventilator's ragged noises, giving Abby time to truly think on the situation at hand. She couldn't get the ideas out of her head that perhaps who ever had done his had areason for doing so. McGee, after all, was on an undercover mission when he was shot. Perhaps the shooter had mistaken him for someone else... Abby almost found reason to think perhaps the shooter was more innocent than she seemed. But as she listened to the sound of he machine that was breathing for McGee, the quieter that little nagging became. No. This girl would rot in prison forever. Abby would see to it.

Abby ran her fingers through his hair. "Don't worry, Timmy. You'll be OK. Gibbs promised me you'd be OK." she whispered gently,although she was more trying to convince herself.

McGee's pained face seemed almost to relax as she spoke. Abby was silent for a moment, just running her fingers through his hair. Watching his still, broken face, his chest rise and fall with the machine forcing air into his lungs. The first tears slipped from her eyes. Just as she feared. Once the first tears fell, she could stop more from raining down.

"I'm so sorry, Timmy." she whispered squeezing his hand tightly. "I'm going to find the girl that did this to you. I promise. I promise..." 


	5. Chapter 4: Dreaming of Regret

Sorry for the wait, guys! I've been at Girls' Camp all week and I just got home.

I don't own NCIS!

Enjoy!

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><p>"Tim!" Abby screamed. She had awoken the next morning to find her best friend in a life threatening state of panic. Her scream awoke Tony and Ziva, who fell asleep in the chairs after arriving to the hospital late last night. Gibbs and Ducky were also somewhere in the building, although they were not in the room at the time. McGee's eyes were wide open and he was convulsing; His heart was beating far too fast. His fear filled eyes were masked by tears as he tried to fight the ventilator.<p>

_Oh no, no! Please, no! _"The tube is in your throat to help you breath, Timmy!" Abby cried. Tim's heart monitor went wild as alarms started going off. Gibbs and Ducky ran into the room as soon as they heard the alarms, but were pushed outside as about seven different people wearing scrubs rushed into the room. The scene that followed was pure havoc.

The nurses shoved Abby, Tony and Ziva out of the way as they tried to calm McGee down, or at least, hold him down long enough for the doctor to get the tube out of his throat. Abby screamed and tried to fight her way back to McGee, panic closing around her, fear filling her heart that he wouldn't make it. She couldn't loose him.

"No! Tim!" She screamed as she tried to fight her way through the crowd. Ziva and Tony did their best to hold her back.

"Abby, the doctors are going to help him!" Tony tried to assure her. But Abby didn't seem to hear him, as she kept fighting the crowd. Ziva and Tony pulled her out of the room so the doctors could save the young agent's life. The door shut, and Gibbs pulled Abby close, wrapping his arms around her in comfort, as they watched the scene unfold through the window.

The doctors were shouting a vast assortment of various medical terms and orders to the nurses who were running around like a bunch of ants. McGee heart rate kept going up and up. The nurses held him down long enough to pull the tube out. His breaths were quick and shallow, racked with panic. He was disoriented, searching the room for someone. He looked out of the window and saw Gibbs. And next to him, Abby, meeting her eyes. His heart rate began to drop slowly, and he reached out his hand to her, as one of the doctors strapped an oxygen mask to his face. One of the nursed injected something into his IV, and his hand dropped, as he fell into unconsciousness. Abby watched the scene before her and crumpled into Gibbs' hug, crying for fear of her friend. She couldn't bare to watch him be in this much pain! No one could.

…

Over the course of the next two days, McGee's condition became much more stable. Stable enough that he could eventually stay awake long enough to talk to his co-workers.

Tim's eyes fluttered open and he looked around the room, sleepily.

"Timmy!" Abby shouted and rushed towards the him in a hug bear hug once she saw that he was awake. As soon as they heard the reassuring shout, Tony and Ziva rushed in. A fiery pain shot through his stomach when she hugged him, and, unsure of what had just happened, he tried to push Abby away, wincing.

"Oh my gosh! I forgot! I'm so sorry!" Abby yelled and released the hug. McGee gave a sort o wincing smile, as to tell her that it was OK.

"How are you feeling, McGee?" Ziva asked.

McGee shook his head. "Everything aches a little, but my stomach feels like I've been hit by a car." He spoke through the breath make, surprised at how hard it was to take in air, and how much his throat hurt to speak. He closed his eyes for a moment.

Gibbs got up from the chair he was sitting in and sat at the edge of McGee's bed, causing him to open his eyes again. "You're in the hospital, Tim. You were shot. Do you remember who you're attacker was?" Gibbs asked.

McGee closed his eyes again and sighed, leaning his head back down on his pillow. Of course he remembered. Those icy grey eyes were the stuff of his nightmares for the past five, or so, days. It wasn't her eyes, really, that haunted his memories. No, it was the emotion in her eyes. The anger and the hate and the pain. But what really stood out to him was the horror after she shot him. He remembered so clearly her confusion when she realized that he wasn't really Franks. But then when the confusion melted away…the horror in her eyes, as she realized what she had done… McGee winced. He couldn't think on it.

"Are you OK?" Tony and Ziva said at the same time. They looked at each other and blushed. McGee nodded.

"It was a young, teenage girl. Maybe between twelve and fifteen. She had black hair and grey, almond shaped eyes," McGee said. He paused for a moment, coughing and gasped, taking in big gulps of oxygen. "She had an accent, Japanese, maybe? She kept talking about her brother and sister," He started to drift back to sleep.

"McGee, I need you to stay away son. Did she give you the letter?" Gibbs asked. McGee shook his head. "Did she give any indication that she might have known El Diablo?" Gibbs asked.

McGee nodded. "She kept asking if it was El Diablo who took her siblings." McGee sighed, closing his eyes.

Gibbs nodded. They might be dealing with a kidnapper. Or even a hostage situation. "Names. Did she give you the names of her siblings?" He asked.

McGee gave an exhausted, halfhearted nod. "Sakura and Sousuke. It was Xana. I know it was." He gasped.

"McGee get some sleep know. Rest up, OK?" Gibbs said.

"Can do, Boss." McGee whispered and drifted off into a deep sleep.

…

McGee awoke sometime several hours later. It was totally dark outside. The clock on the nightstand told hit that it was around two-thirty in the morning. He looked around. Gibbs wasn't in the room at the moment, but Ziva, Tony, and Abby were. Tony and Ziva were sitting next to each other, Ziva's head leaning on Tony's shoulder. Abby was asleep in the chair closest to him, her face looked like it was tear stained, which made him feel a little bad. There were fresh flowers on his nightstand that he was sure weren't there before. He looked up. There was someone sitting at the foot of his bed, her back turned towards him. She had long, shiny black hair, that went down to her hips. She was swinging her legs, and almost seemed to realize when he woke up, because she started talking to him, although she didn't turn around. She had a soft, sweet voice with a Japanese accent. She seemed sort of familiar, but McGee couldn't remember where he'd seen her before. He tried to get a better look at her face, but she cut him off.

"It's alright if you don't recognise me. You don't have to remember. I almost wish that you wouldn't remember." She said. There was hurt in her voice.

McGee didn't want to say anything, because it hurt his throat, but he kept trying to get a better look at her.

"Fine. If you must know, My name is Xana. I am the girl who shot you in the park." She whispered firmly.

The monitor picked up his heart beat quickening.

"Please, don't be afraid. I have no intentions of harming you. How could I?" She paused.

McGee tried to sit up, but stopped. It hurt to much. So he leaned back down, moaning quietly.

"I know how it feels to be shot. I know how bad it hurts. Our 'teachers', the scientists, often shoot us to give us object lessons on enduring, or as punishments. I kid you not," Xana sighed. "From the day Franks found me and hauled me off to that laboratory, I promised myself that I would never become like him or El Diablo or Tammy Rowe. We are taught to evade bullets, to withstand sever pain, to torture people effectively… I've seen the pain he's caused others… he blew up my family, for gosh sakes! And yet, I shot you… the same way… the same way…" She stopped, her voice filled with regret, her body shaking.

McGee tried to sit up again. "How- how…" He started.

"How did I break in here?" Xana finished for him. "It's what I was trained…" She stopped as if re-selecting her words. "That's what I was _created_ to do. I am not like you, McGee. I was created for a special purpose that I don't know of yet. I was created… my DNA altered… Just a lab experiment. That's what we all are. But I escaped… I found a family… a _real_ family."

"What… what happened to them?" McGee asked, sleepily.

"El Diablo… Jonathan Franks… killed them. My house exploded killing most of my family. The only ones who survived -me, Sakura, Sousuke, Ryouji, and Ayumi- we ran. Actually, we were put into an orphanage. Ayumi was adopted away from us. We couldn't bare to be separated, so we ran away from home. We were found by a man named Tobias Fornell. He protected us, for the time being. He had an F.B.I. assigned to guard us. In an attempt to capture myself, the poor man was killed. Agent Fornell was so sweet; he offered to be our next guard. But… I didn't want to see him die, so again we ran away." She stopped as she let one lonely tear dribble down her face.

"We knew we were being pursued for some time, but it wasn't until three months later, that I made my biggest mistake. We were being chased by some men in suits, and ran down a lonely ally. Ryouji helped us climb under a garbage dumpster, but ran out of time before he could hide, too. The man, Jonathan Franks, kept asking where I was. But Ryouji kept denying that he knew where I was. Meanwhile, I watch the scene unfold from under the dumpster, trying to keep my sibling quiet. Franks, so desperate for information, shot Ryouji in the stomach, like I shot you." She choke out the last words as though she wanted to cut out her tongue after saying them.

"Even on the ground, dying, he wouldn't give away our hiding place. Franks just left. He left him to die. I scrambled out from under the dumpster. I tried to stop the bleeding, I tried to save him… but he pushed me away, telling me to run!" She stopped, spitting out the words with anger. She turned around to look at McGee.

"But how could I? He's my brother for gosh sake! You have a little brother or sister. I can tell by the gentleness in your voice. What if it was him or her, lying on the ground, dying? Would you have run? Left them to die alone?" She asked quietly, meeting his eyes.

"I thought, so sure, that you were Franks… I wanted you to know what it felt like. I wanted to avenge Ryouji's death… But I was wrong… I am no better than my captors… And I am so, so sorry… I know, there is no justifications for my actions… but I still ask forgiveness. I am so sorry." Gentle tears lolled down her face.

McGee looked her in the eyes. He didn't know what he should say, or even what he could say.

"It's OK. You don't have to forgive me. I understand. But I must ask something of you. El Diablo is sending one of my best friends, a little girl named Hestia, to your friend Abby, to be… 'studied'. Hestia is only a little girl. Please, keep her safe. She's like a sister to me. Please… please.. Keep her safe." Xana pleaded.

McGee looked up and her and nodded. Xana smiled as a tear slipped from her eyes. "Thank you." She whispered. And when McGee blinked, she was gone, leaving him to wonder what had just happened.

Tim blinked again, and looked around. It was light outside. The clock said that it was around seven-thirty in the morning. What an odd dream…

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><p>Please reveiw! I only have reviews for the first two chapters, and I really want to know if I'm going goos, and you guys like it, or it it sucks and I should quit while I'm down, like if it's not worth continueing. PLEASE REVIEW!<p> 


	6. Chapter 5: Here Comes the Sun

Ok so when you see: '**8D**' That's your cue to start listening to "Here Come the Sun" by the Beatles! Enjoy! R&R!

Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS, or 'Here Comes the Sun' by the Beatles

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><p>After spending several days with Tim, -whose condition was slowly getting much better- Abby received a strange call from an odd "hospital", requesting her help. Abby, with the knowledge that several lives were on the line, accepted, and agreed to meet one of the head scientist in the park (yes, the same park in which McGee was shot). The scientist told her about a very secretive program in which several young children were dying because their DNA was dissolving. The scientist described to Abby what the symptoms were, what happened when the stress level peaked, and that there was no definite cause, and no cure. That's where Abby came in. They wanted her to examine a child whose DNA stress level had already peaked, and help to find a cause and a cure. He, however, neglected to mention, that the most probable cause was because these children had been subject to- victims of genetic engineering.<p>

Abby, of course, agreed. Although she was supposed to tell no one, Abby did let slip to Ducky, Gibbs, Tony, Ziva, and McGee, the nature of this project she was working on. Gibbs and Ducky were somewhat skeptical and suspicious of this project and said nothing.

It was a few days, maybe three, after the original phone call came, that the little girl was given, well, put into Abby's care. The little girl arrived to NCIS headquarters (as that was the only place Abby could really be found, other than the hospital with McGee) in stasis, a medically induced coma. The child was brought down to autopsy and put on an examination table that Ducky and Jimmy had set up especially for her, because Ducky insisted that the girl get a check-up to make sure she was as healthy as the scientist had claimed that she was.

Waking up in this strange room was certainly a surprise for the small child. It was nothing like laboratory she had lived in for all her life. Although, it was still grey, there were flashes of color. Blue, mostly. Blue was a normal thing for the little girl. It was a happy color; a symbol of freedom. If you saw those little blue lights emanating off of you, you were free.

The little girl yawned and stretched, waking up. "I feel funny. Not like I usually do when I wake up." She complained. She slowly opened her eyes and looked around. This was nothing like the place she had been in before. This was different. The people were new, kinder, gentler, happier. "Where am I?" She asked.

"Hi, Hestia. You're in NCIS headquarters." Abby responded with a smile.

Hestia narrowed her eyes. This wasn't right. Was this a test, a drill of some sort? "What's going on? Is this a drill? Where are the other kids?" She asked, then flinched away a little bit, as if expecting someone to hit her.

"This is no drill, my friend." Ducky said, smiling.

Hestia looked around, skeptically. But then she caught sight of Ducky's blue shirt. Her mouth dropped open and her eyes widened. "I really am in NCIS… aren't I…" She whispered. "I'm out… I'm free… free…"

"What did you say, my girl?" Ducky asked, not catching the last thing that she had said.

A wide smile appeared on the girl's face, and she jumped off of the table, running around the room, spinning in circles, dancing. "I'm free! I'm free! I can see the world! What time of day is it? Is it day or night? Will you show me what the sky looks like? And the moon and the sun and the stars? Xana said that the sun is the most amazing thing! It's bright, not like the lights, but I mean really, really bright! It's bright and warm… and it sets the sky on fire when it rises! It fills the whole world with color, she said! Can you imagine? Color?" She giggled, dancing around the room, searching for a window.

Ducky and Abby both looked at each other, stunned. Ducky gently grabbed Hestia's arm and looked at her in her big, grey eyes. "Are you saying, that you have never seen the sky before?" Ducky asked, quietly.

Hestia shook her head, sadly. "No one there has. 'Cept for Xana, 'cause she's the only who ever got away! But now I'm free too!" She squealed, happily.

"When was the last time you left that hospital?" Abby asked.

Hestia looked up at her with big grey eyes, full of confusion. "What are you talking about? I've never left before. No one has. Except for Xana. She got away when she was a baby. They had to catch her. And bring her back. And they did. It made her sad. She missed her family. I fell real envious 'cause I never had a family. But she got away, again. I hope she finds her family. I really, really do." She sighed.

Ducky looked at Abby. "Get Gibbs. He'll want to hear about this." Abby nodded and ran out of the room while Ducky continued the check up. When he first listened to her heart beat, he was caught off guard. "My, your heart is beating fast. Are you nervous?" He asked.

Hestia shook her head. Then she put two fingers on the side of her neck and listened. "It feels normal to me."

Ducky did a few more tests when Gibbs, Tony and Ziva walked in. Ziva had a large red carnation in her hair, and when Hestia saw it, she screamed and hid behind a corner. The other people in the room jumped surprised to hear her shriek.

"Wh-what it that?" Hestia asked in a shaky voice, pointing at the carnation in Ziva's hair.

"What? My carnation?" Ziva asked, confused, taking off her flower.

Hestia shook her head. "No! On the carnation! Look!" She shriek.

"The petals? The stem?" Ducky guessed.

Hestia shook her head in exasperation. She then pointed to Tony's red tie. "Look! It's on his tie, too! Don't you see it? What it that?" She asked, slowly coming out from behind the corner.

All were silent for a long, long time. Finally Gibbs spoke up. He took the carnation from Ziva and held it in his hands. "…Red?" He asked, cautiously.

Hestia's eyes widened, and she ran forward and snatched the flower, staring at it for a so long. "Red? This is red? Red! I like red! It's so… pretty! It's warm… and happy… but sort of angry at the same time." She gasped.

All stopped and looked from the little girl cradling the flower, to each other, then back to the little girl. "You've… You've never seen red before?" Tony asked.

"Nope! But I like it! It makes me happy." She smiled.

"Have you seen _any_ color before?" Ziva asked, bewildered.

Hestia nodded, not taking her eyes off of the flower. "Yeah. I've seen blue and purple before, but that's it. When Xana came, she had a purple and red bracelet. But they took it away. They don't want us to be exposed to colors. They say it's distracting, and we're supposed to be sharpening our minds. But anyways, they took the bracelet away, but she had a tiny purple string from it, that she kept, so that she wouldn't forget. She showed it to all of us!" She beamed. "And of course I've seen blue! Blue is freedom. Blue is peace. My friend, Tobias went blue. It was sad, 'cause I'll miss him. But it was happy, 'cause now he's free! They say that there's color in heaven, and I hope there is, 'cause he would have really liked red." She said, sadly.

"Tony… Why don't you take Hestia upstairs and show her the other colors. Jethro and I need to talk." Ducky said.

**8D**

Tony nodded, and took Hestia's tiny hand. He, Ziva and Hestia went into the elevator and upstairs, to the bullpen. Hestia was so intently focused of Tony's tie, that she didn't look up. Tony stopped right in front of the big window.

"Hey, Hestia, look." He whispered. The little girl took her eyes off of the tie and looked up. Her eyes became so wide, that both Tony and Ziva thought that they were going to pop right out of her head.

"Wow…" She whispered, pressing her face against the glass. "What is that? It's so… so happy! It's so…warm! Is that…? Is that the sun"

Tony leaned down and put a hand on her shoulder. "Yeah. That's the sun."

"The sun… the great good warmth of heaven. Clouds… That made all our happy days. Such a bountiful procession, when life… seemed unending…" She whispered. "That's from the Greek tragedy, _Alcestis_. I recite that line every night before I go to bed, trying to picture what the sun looks like… my dreams never came close." She was so happy, she wanted to cry.

She hugged Tony's arms, still staring outside. Her eyes followed the birds that flew past the window. She giggled, pointing out the animals and things that she found in the clouds. Every color she saw, every shade, she asked Tony what color it was. Tony looked back at Ziva. Their eyes met, and they blushed, smiling. Tony had to turn away, as Hestia tugged on his sleeve to ask another question.

Ziva watched them, smiling and laughing, the little girl had never been so happy in her life, seeing things they take for granted everyday. The little things, like color, and the wind blowing past the trees. She turned on her computer and pulled up iTunes. She turned her speakers up loud enough that the office could hear, but quiet enough to keep it peaceful. The gentle music filled the air and made everybody smile.

"_Here comes the sun, do do do do. _

_Here comes the sun, _

_and I say, it's all right. _

_Little darling, it's been a long, cold, lonely winter. _

_Litter darling, it feels like years since it's been here. _

_Here comes the sun, do do do do. _

_Here comes the sun, _

_and I say, it's all right…"_

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><p>Thanks for reading! Don't forget to review please!<p> 


	7. Chapter 6: The Hearts of the Children

Happy Father's Day, guys! Sorry, haven't had much time to write. I wrote this because my parents are divorcing, and my dad's a jerk, so I wanted Hestia to know what it feels like to have a really great "father-figure" because I don't know what it's like, but still keeping with the plot. Enjoy!

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><p>"She's hiding something, Jethro. I know she is." Ducky whispered to Gibbs, as they waited for Hestia's cardiovascular scan to be complete. Although it might have seemed a little bit overboard in retrospect, Ducky wanted it, just to be sure, because the girl's heart was beating nearly twice as fast as it should, and she seemed to be having frequent heart palpitations, although she was taking no repercussions as a result of this overly fast, and extremely unsteady heartbeat. Tony and Ziva had been ordered to stay behind at the Navy Yard, while Hestia, Ducky, Gibbs and Abby went up Bethesda for the cardiovascular check-up. Abby had originally been ordered to stay with Ziva and Tony, however, she insisted on going with Gibbs, as McGee was in this hospital, and, although his condition was improving, she was still worried about him. Especially since he had another surgery for the bullet wound, today.<p>

"How are you feeling, McGee?" Abby asked cautiously as she walked into his room.

"I feel OK. My side sort of aches from surgery, and I feel kind of funny from the medication they gave me, but other than that, I feel great?" He said, trying to act happy in front of her, despite the fact that he actually felt like crap.

Abby raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

"So, I saw you guys with a little girl, earlier. Suspect or something?

"Her name's Hestia. You know, like the Greek goddess of the hearth?" Abby beamed to McGee, sitting on the edge of his bed while she waited for the results of the scan.

"Yeah, Hestia was one of my favorite Greek goddesses in ancient mythology, second only to Athena." McGee responded. His breath mask had been replaced with nasal cannula.

"Ah, Goddess of wisdom and battle strategies, I do believe. Excellent choice, Timothy. Athena is my favorite Greek Goddess, as well." Ducky chimed in, walking in from out in the hall.

McGee smiled for a moment, but his smile faded. _Hestia…_ a voice like those you hear in a dream, whispered that name from the dust. Realization caught him so off guard, that his face went pale.

"What's wrong, McGee?" Abby asked, noticing the sudden discoloration of his face.

McGee shook his head. "No, it's nothing. So where's Hestia, again?" He asked.

"Down in the Cardiovascular ward." Abby responded.

"Why?" McGee asked.

"Ducky thought she had frequent heart palpitations, so he wanted to get her scanned, just in case the palpitations were some 'prelude to some much more horrible disease'." Abby said, using air quotes, quoting Ducky

McGee laughed, sort of loopy from the medication they gave him for the pain, since. Suddenly the doctor, Dr. Moore, and Hestia walked in. He looked pale, like he'd seen a ghost, and she looked like was a kid who got caught with her hand in the cookie jar. There was shame in her eyes, shame and _fear_.

"Agent Gibbs? Doctor Mallard? May I have a word with you?" Dr. Moore asked.

They nodded and followed him and Hestia farther down the hall to talk in privet. "What's going on?" Gibbs asked.

"Hestia… Hestia- err… This is going to sound out of the ordinary, but I assure you I am not lying. I redid the test three times, just to make sure…" He trailed off, his face paling.

"What is it?" Gibbs barked.

Dr. Moore swallowed. "Hestia- err- Hestia has two hearts." He said. And when seeing the confused and shocked looks on Gibbs' and Ducky's faces, he continued. "The odd thing about it is, that both hearts are functioning normally. The increased flow of blood and oxygen to the brain is stimulating the processes of self-healing, metabolism, and the rate at which nerves send electric shocks to the brain." The more that Dr. Moore spoke, the more Hestia looked like she wanted to sink into a pit. Gibbs could see tears brimming at the edge of her eyes.

"I don't know if it's because of the fact that she has two hearts, but she has strength, immunity, reflexes, mental capacity, sight, and hearing that are super-human. I have reason to believe that this girl has been the subject of serious genetic engineering-" That's all that Dr. Moore could say, because Hestia could no longer take it and pushed free of his hold and ran away, down the halls, crying.

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.

Gibbs walked into the cafeteria, after two hours of searing for Hestia with no luck. She'd come out when she wanted to be found, he decided. The cafeteria was totally empty. He got a tray and sat down at a table, and started eating in silence. Suddenly, he heard something that sounded like quiet whimpering. He stood up and walked over to some vending machines, where he though he heard the sound coming from. Sure enough, Hestia was sitting behind a machine, crying. Gibbs move the machine and sat down by her.

There was silence for a long time. "You're gonna send me back, aren't you." Hestia whimpered.

"No." Gibbs responded quietly. He sat up a little. "Did you know about this the whole time?" He asked.

"Of course I did." She said, bitterly. "I wasn't in a hospital before, I was in a laboratory. That's all any of us are. Just genetic lab rats. That's why we disappear. Because our DNA can't handle the stress."

"What do you mean by 'we'?" Gibbs asked.

"There are about two hundred and fifty of us in the laboratory. It's a project funded by El Diablo. We're supposed to be genetically advanced soldiers. To fight in the war." Tears steamed her face. "We're not even technically 'people'. The them we're more like 'pets'. Like lab rats."

"Is that why you ran? Because you don't want to go back?" Gibbs asked.

Hestia narrowed her eyes and stood up. "You don't know what it's like, Agent Gibbs! The tests we're forced to endure are horrible, and brutal! They teach us how to endure pain, so they shoot us in the stomach! They teach us how to fight, sometimes killing kids during the demonstration! They teach us many, many things, about science and math and history, but it's brutal! I once had to memorized Shakespeare's _Titus Andronicus_, in a week!" She hissed.

Hestia sat back down again. "That's why none of us have every seen color before. They don't let us stimulate or creativity. They say it's distracting. So we don't get to do it. And so, out of two hundred and fifty kids, only two have ever seen color, or the sun before. Me and Xana."

"Xana?" Gibbs asked.

"She was the only one who'd ever gotten away. I don't know how, but when she was really, really little, she escaped. Got adopted by a family, too. But they wanted to get her back, so captured her again, five years ago. They killed her whole family while doing it. Xana was like a big sister to me. When she came back, she had a purple and red bracelet. It got taken away, but there was one piece of purple string that she kept, and showed everybody. She gave everybody _real_ names instead of just numbers and letters. She even told us about the sun, and the moon and the stars, and the sky and the trees, and flowers." She smiled. But then tears of fear fell back down.

Hestia looked back up at Gibbs, with sad, grey eyes. "I'm not like you. I was born in a laboratory, raised in a test tube. I never had a mom. I never had a dad." She hugged Gibbs really tight, pressing her face into his shoulder. Please don't make me go back, Agent Gibbs. Please." She whimpered, helplessly.

Gibbs wrapped his arms around the little girl. He tried to keep gentle tears from falling as he though of his own little girl. "I won't let them take you. I promise, I won't let anybody hurt you, again. I'll protect you. I won't let them take you away from me, Kelly."

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><p>R&amp;R! Thanks for reading! Happy Father's Day!<p> 


	8. Chapter 7: Stained a Simple, Bloody Red

For this chaper, if it's in italics, it's a memory from before Xana ran away. This chapter is based off of the poem below, that I wrote. The chapter starts serious and sort of sad, but it gets funny! Enjoy! R&R!

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><p>Curtains thick and sheets of lead,<p>

My hands are stained a bloody red.

The hypocrite I have become,

There is no battle ever won.

Though just and right my actions seem,

The lurking dark at edges teem.

I made you promise not to dye

Your hand so red, but now and I

And aye, my hands have spilled and shed,

A life's own simple, bloody red.

Moonlight. Starlight. Stars of the sky, stars of the city. Burning bright with smoke and torchlight. She sits there, face upward, Xana. Perched in the tree that tonight will play host as her home. Such a life she has, and such a life it is for one so lonely. No thought she has is concrete, no thought is her own, anymore. She shares them with herself, a quiet voice that wonders if it was worth it. She sat there, staring at a simple, red and purple, woven bracelet. It was given to her by her brother, taken away by the warden of the prison, that for so long, kept her unjustly held. When she broke into the warden's office to get the feather that bought her freedom, she spent so long searching for the bracelet. It almost cost her, her freedom. She could only wonder now, it was worth it. But the truth was, she wasn't staring at the bracelet, she was staring at her pants, stained simple, bloody red. Blood of the Agent she had shot. So unjust. How could she say now, that she was better than her captors. Hestia… She has let you down.

_The grey, steel walls were silent this time of night. Silent, except for the whispering of two girls, up way past their bedtime. Xana grasped Hestia's hands tightly. It would be, perhaps, that she would never see her again. But now, she had one moment, one brief slice of time for goodbye. _

"_Hestia…Take care of yourself. Please. I'll return, one day. I promise, I will." Xana assured her._

_Hestia looked her in the eyes, solemn at first, then smiled. "I have no doubt in my mine. I'll stay strong for you…" Her smile turned sad, and she grasped Xana in a desperate, final, goodbye hug. "Xana, I never had a family before. But to me, you were like a big sister. And as your little sister, I don't want you to go…"_

"_Hestia. I have to go. I need to find my brother and sister. I need to know they're OK." Xana whispered._

_Hestia put her hands on her hips, and looked at her, sternly. "Xana, if you do get out, how are you going to find them? You have no idea where they are!" Hestia pleaded._

"_Jonathan Franks will tell. Hestia, we are trained by these people to do horrible things. Promise me that you will never sink down to their level. Stay true to who you are. You are Hestia." Xana pulled the small girl into another tight hug._

"_I promise Xana. Now you gotta promise me something." Hestia said, pushing away from Xana's tight grip. Xana looked at her with quiet confusion. "Promise me that you will do the same. You know who you are, too. You are Xana. Don't do anything that you will regret." Hestia pleaded._

"_Hestia, what do mean? Regret?" _

"_Jonathan Franks blew up your house and most of your family. He shot your brother, and kidnapped your little sister and brother. There is hate in your heart for this man. Of course there is. And because you hate, some part of you wants revenge. Don't do it. To kill someone in cold blood, for revenge, makes you no better than they are. Promise me!" _

_Xana's eyes met Hestia's. She opened her mouth, but no words came out. There was silence for a long time. Xana's eyes began to tear up. "Oh, I promise, Hestia. I promise. I promise."_

Xana felt her eyes well up with tears. What had she done? Shot a man, maybe even killed him, in cold blood. An innocent man, no less. She promised Hestia that she would not do anything that she would regret. Oh Hestia… Oh Hestia… What had she done? What had she done? Spilled innocent blood… Now her hands were stained with simple, bloody red.

"Hestia, I cannot bare to think on what I have done! What have I done? What have I done?" Xana thought bitterly, clenching her teeth.

"Oh Hestia… I hope, I hope that we do not meet again. I could not bare to look into your eyes again, and watch as happiness and joy melts to shame and disappointment as I tell you what I have done. My hands are stained now… no better than those who keep us locked away… Oh Hestia, I broke my promise, I've let you down… Can I even ask forgiveness anymore? Oh Hestia, Oh my little sister, I'm so sorry."

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.

Hestia sat at the foot of McGee's bed, swinging her legs. It was mid afternoon, and she was feeling antsy. Abby had told her to wait there, with McGee while she finished some forensic stuff. Hestia didn't usually mind waiting, but then again, the last time she was told to wait, was a pain-endurance test, in which, she stood silently in a line with twenty-five other kids, and one by one they were shot and forced to endure the horrible pain that followed.

But still, she was always a patient little girl, so, as to why she was so fidgety today, was anybody's guess. She could usually find plenty of things to do when she had to wait while she was with Agent Gibbs' team, but a hospital was different. There were many fun buttons and tubes and stuff to play with, but the doctors always yelled at you if you played with them. She supposed that she could just talk to someone, but the only person in the room to talk to, at the moment, was Agent McGee. And he was only fun to talk when the doctors put him on pain medication. He also looked sort of asleep.

Hestia hopped off of the bed and stood right next McGee. She got really close to his face, trying to make sure he wasn't pretending. He still didn't move, so she poked his face. "Are you asleep?" She asked in sort of a hushed whisper. No response. So she poked his face again. It was kind of squishy and fun to poke. It would probably be more fun to poke, if she had a stick. She walked around the room, but there was no stick. So she walked into the hall to the reception desk.. She saw a stick in one lady's hand. It had a pink squishy thing on one end, and a black sharp point on the other. She walked up to the desk. She had to hop up and down to be tall enough to talk to the lady.

"My I help you?" The lady asked, smiling.

"Can I use your stick?" Hestia asked pointing to the pencil in her hand.

"This?" She asked then shook her head. "No, I'm sorry. I'm using it right now." Upon seeing the disappointed look on Hestia's face, the lady searched around and picked something up. "You can use this!" She smiled. She took the top off, revealing a pointy end, and handed it to Hestia. It looked sort of like the one in her hand, except it was black and white and smelled funny. On the side, in big curvy letters it said: "Sharpie". The lady then handed Hestia a piece of paper, although Hestia didn't know why.

Hestia took the pen and the paper and smiled. "Thank you!" She said and ran back to McGee's room. She stood by his head again. "Are you still asleep?" She asked. Again, no response. So Hestia poked his face with her finger. She smiled. She then poked his face with the Sharpie she got. It left a black dot on his face. She looked at it in awe and giggled. She poked his face again, only to get the same results. Fascinated, she dragged the marker across his face. It left a long, thick line. Happy with the results, she continued to doodle on the poor boy's face, until McGee began to wake up. He yawned a little and looked around. He scratched his face, smearing the most recently drawn doodle. Hestia's eyes widened and she ran over to a chair, giggling. Abby, Ziva, and Tony walked in a moment later.

"Hey guys, did you just get here?" McGee asked, groggily. There was no response. Only three very shocked stares. "What?" McGee asked.

"What happened to your face, Probie?" Tony asked. Hestia's eyes widened, again, and she quickly his the marker behind her back.

"What do you mean?" McGee asked.

"Oh, you'd better see for yourself, Tim." Abby said. She couldn't help but smile. She took our An eye shadow container that had a mirror attached and handed it to McGee.

"Ah! Tony, what did you do?" McGee asked, horrified.

"Hey, I just got here!" Tony argued. All eyes turned to Hestia, who had long since gotten rid of the pen.

Hestia held up her hands, which were smeared with black. "Hey, wasn't me." She shrugged. She looked at her hands and shoved them into her pockets.

McGee rolled his eyes. "Great."

"Don't worry, Timmy! I've got some make-up remover that should do the trick!" Abby beamed, making McGee try to sink down. Trying to move like that, made a fiery pain shoot up his spine, causing him to wince, and make what sounded like a squeaking noise.

"What happened?" Hestia asked. "Every time you move, you make that noise. What happened to you that put you in the hospital, anyways?"

"Agent McGee was shot in the stomach by an horrible little girl, seeking revenge." Abby sort of spat out the words, then immediately wished she could take them back, as Xana was like a hero to Hestia.

"A horrible little girl?" Hestia asked, her attention peaked.

No one said anything. They all knew that Xana was Hestia's close friend. How could they tell her?

"Well, who is it?" Hestia asked. She looked into the dismayed eyes of everyone there, and began to catch on. Her jaw dropped. "No, no, no. Xana wouldn't do something like that! I made her promise! I made her promise…"

Ziva put a hand on her shoulder. "I am sorry. Xana was looking for revenge and got it… But on the wrong person." She said somberly.

Hestia narrowed her eyes. "No… Xana? Xana… she…" Hestia closed her eyes. "Five years? No… She wouldn't…" Xana was not the person Hestia thought she knew… She was no better than El Diablo. She wouldn't let Xana become another El Diablo… She knew she had to turn in her friend- her big sister.


	9. Chapter 8: Help or Harm?

"Boss, I'm done making a fake identities for Sakura and Sousuke Haroshimoto." Tony called out to Gibbs from his desk in the Bull Pen.

"What did you put their current home and family as?" Gibbs asked, walking in the room with his cup of coffee.

"Err, family name is the Van Pelts, the location vacant room in the apartment building on Main Street," Tony answered hastily. "Why?"

"I just wanted to make sure that you didn't screw it up, DiNozzo." Gibbs said, grabbing his gun from the drawer in his desk.

"Think Xana will take the bait, Boss?" Tony asked, also grabbing his gun and standing up.

"She'd better." Gibbs replied. "Hurry up. We're going the Bethesda."

Tony stopped short. "Bethesda? Why?"

"To check on McGee."

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.

McGee was sleeping peacefully in his bed at Bethesda, two days later. Abby was sleeping in a chair by his bedside. Ziva was also taking a little nap in a chair in the corner of the room. Hestia was… Hestia was no where to be found at the moment. Then again, this was her friend that they were going to apprehend. Any person with a heart would fell guilty about, not only turning your friend in, but designing the plan that would catch her. It was no wonder that she was hiding.

Tony and Gibbs walked in the room. Tony was the first to enter. He was followed, a few minuets later, by Gibbs. Tony walked in the room and paused for a moment, looking at Ziva, sleeping peacefully in the corner. Hestia's plan counted on Xana's guilt. If she saw McGee there, Hestia determined that she wouldn't shoot. But, if Hestia's plan went wrong, this could all go away. Tony didn't want it to do away. He… He loved Ziva.

Gibbs walked in and flipped on the light. Ziva, being the light sleeper that she is, awoke then and looked around. Ziva's waking caused Abby to wake, which, in turn, caused McGee to wake.

McGee looked around the room, sleepily. He caught Gibbs' eye and frowned. Gibbs was hold a bag of close from Blue Navy. "What's going on, Boss?" McGee asked.

Gibbs looked at him intently. "McGee, can you walk?" He asked, dead seriousness floating in his voice.

McGee tilted his head to the side. He didn't know if he could. He started to sit up but stopped as an intense, fiery pain shot through his spine. But he didn't, of all things, want to look weak in front of his boss, so he gave Gibbs a weak smile. "Yeah, I can walk." He said, although he paled at the mere thought have having to even sit up any farther. "Why?"

"Good," Gibbs said. He threw McGee the bag of cloths. "Put these on. It's Hestia's plan. DiNozzo, fill 'im in. Ziver, come with me." Gibbs said, and left the room.

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.

The truth was, McGee couldn't walk in a million years. Well, he could probably walk again in a couple of weeks, but not now. Gibbs and Tony seemed happy that their team was back together as the three Agents walked down the hall to the elevator. Ziva probably would have been happy, too, but she wasn't there. She left earlier. McGee, however, was in horrible amounts of pain. He was glad to be walking around with his friends again, but he, honestly, thought the plan that they created, was a horrible plan. Abby was extremely worried for McGee's shape, and knew that he might not be able to get very far on his own two legs, but she said nothing. Actually, she said a lot of things, which is my Gibbs mad her stay in Bethesda and look for Hestia, who was still missing.

McGee made it to the elevator, through the elevator ride, but after three steps out of the elevator, he collapsed.

"McGee!" Tony yelled and ran to his partner's side. "McGee what happened?"

"I'm sorry, Tony." McGee whimpered through deep, ragged breaths. "I can't do it. The pain… The pain is too much."

Tony looked around, desperate to keep his friend out of pain but at the same time complete the mission. He spotted a wheel chair, and he and Gibbs helped get the young man into it. They wheeled him to the car, helped him into the car and drove away.

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.

The three agents found Ziva waiting for them in the vacant apartment. She was wearing different cloths than she was before. She was wearing ripped, paint splattered jeans, and a paint splattered, green long sleeved shirt. She had her hair put back in with a bandana. She was going to play the roll of the mother.

"You are not to say anything, Tony." Ziva hissed, clearly embarrassed about her roll in this plan. Tony just snickered as he wheeled McGee into the room.

Tony crouched down by McGee. "Look, McGee I know it hurts, but when Gibbs gives the signal, your going to have to stand up. If Xana takes the bait, she can't know that your in a wheelchair like this, ok?" Tony said.

"Tony… I… I can't." McGee said, dismayed.

"Look, yes you will. You have to."

McGee looked at him then nodded.

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.

Fire lit up the sky with passionate color. The sunset. That's when the sun says: "Goodnight!". But for one teenage girl, the sunset felt more like a renew dawn. After five years, knowing now that she wasn't alone. Her little brother and sister were OK! They were going to be a family again.

The city lights turned on. Like stars on earth. A Japanese girl, maybe fourteen years old, used these lights to guide her to, after five long years, her family. She wore a purple and silver sun dress and a silver sweater that she had worked hard to earn the money for. She walked up to a tall apartment complex, nervous. What if they didn't remember her. She walked inside, into the elevator, and up. She counted down the rooms. Suddenly, she stopped. Tears welled up in her eyes. Five years is too long.

She smoothed out her hair and her dress. She couldn't help but tense as she lifted her hand. She knocked. Once. Twice. No answer. Three times. The door opened. A sweet looking lady wearing jeans and a green long sleeved shirt, greeted her at the door.

"Mrs. Van Pelt?" The girl asked.

"Yes?"

"Are… are Sakura and Sousuke… home?" She asked, trying hard not to cry.

"Yes. Come inside." Mrs. Van Pelt said, leading her inside. Something was wrong. She could tell there were three other people in the room, none of them children. She could feel the vibrations they made traveling through the earth. The girl walked into the middle of an empty room.

"Xana?" A voice behind her asked. Xana whirled around and saw the young agent from the park -Agent DiNozzo- pointing a gun at her. Mrs. Van Pelt was also pointing a gun at her.

"Where are Sakura and Sousuke?" Xana asked, frantic.

"Not here." Mrs. Van Pelt replied.

"Then where-" She stopped. Painful tears leaked from her eyes. "This was a set up!" Xana shouted. She looked around. DiNozzo had his gun only a few inches from her face.

Xana glared at him. She kicked the gun. As soon as it left his hands, she threw him down and pile drived him. Agent DiNozzo was out cold. Xana lunged for the gun. So did Mrs. Van Pelt. But Xana got there first. They wrestled for a minuet, before Xana scrambled to her feet, pointing the gun at Mrs. Van Pelt. She heard a shot and all of time seemed to stop.

Why had she forgotten about the two other people in the room? The agent with the silver hair stood to her left, several yards away. He fired one shot. Xana turned in slow motion as the bullet ripped towards her. She raised her hand and hit the side of the bullet, knocking it out of it's trajectory, where it hit the floor.

The man with the silver hair fired three more shots. But Xana was too quick. She backed up into a room, pointing her gun at them. This is where she would have escaped. But when she turned around she saw… She saw…

As Xana stared into the face of that man, guilt filled her heart. Her mouth slid open, and tears dribbled out of her eyes. Her gun lowered slowly and shook her head. She wouldn't shoot him again. She gave him her gun and sank to her knees, whimpering. She looked up at the man with the green eyes.

"I am so sorry." She whispered. Tears streaked her face. She looked at him. "I told you last time, that you don't have to forgive me. I just wanted to say… thank you. For protecting Hestia for me." She gave a weak smile. She bowed her head and willingly gave herself up, holding out her hands to be cuffed.

The agent with the green slowly slid the cuffs over her wrists, snapping them closed. He stood her up. He remembered the dream he had in the hospital. Funny, she remembered his dream too. Perhaps it wasn't… He looked her in the eyes and smiled. "Xana, I forgive you." McGee whispered. He passed her off to Gibbs, while Ziva and the now awaked Tony talked.

The pain was too much and McGee collapsed. Tony and Ziva rushed over to the fallen agent's side. McGee insisted that he was fine, but his old bullet wound had begun to bleed again. But that was OK. Seeing the subtle relief in Xana's eyes made him happy. But then he felt guilty. Did he really do the right thing? The pain in Xana's eyes when she realized that this was a set up… The pain… The pain became overwhelming and McGee blacked out.


	10. Chapter 9: Interrogation

Sorry for the wait and thank you for the reviews! Now that the play I was in is over, I should be posting chapters more regularly.

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><p>In the thirty-six hours that had passed since Xana's capture, McGee had returned to Bethesda because his stitches had broken when they apprehended the girl, causing him pain and blood loss. After his wound was re-sewn, and a few hours in recovery, he was permitted to leave the hospital, as long as he remained in a wheelchair for the next two weeks or so. And, while Gibbs insisted that he remained home to recover, McGee insisted that he returned to the Navy Yard to catch up on work, which he was pleasantly surprised to find that Ziva and Tony had done for him.<p>

Xana had been taken to Interrogation, where she was kept while Ducky gave her a quick check up, and then received a horrible lecture from a very angry Abby. Since then, Xana had not spoken a word, and rarely even moved a muscle.

Ziva ran into the blacked out side of the interrogation room, where Tony was waiting, with a bag of popcorn in her hand.

"I am here. I might have burned it a little, but I think it should still taste OK. Has Gibbs started interrogating her, yet?" Ziva asked.

Tony shook his head. "Not yet."

Ziva shrugged and handed Tony the bag of popcorn. He took a handful and passed the bag to McGee, who was also in the room.

"Why do you think he is taking so long?" Ziva asked turning to the teenager sitting alone in the interrogation room.

Tony shook his head and gave a faint smirk. "He's letting her squirm."

Ziva narrowed her eyes. "She does not appear to be squirming." She stated, flatly. "Has she moved at all in the last hour?"

"Nope. She hasn't moved a muscle." McGee answered, stuffing some popcorn into his mouth. He had to admit, he had grown respect for the fourteen year old. But she seemed different now. It was like she'd grown sixty five years older in the last thirty six hours. She seemed so old and frail, like an old lady. It was as though her body had withered away from the healthy stature of the young girl she had once been. But it wasn't just that. McGee felt as though there was something missing from her: The hope had left her eyes.

Xana didn't even flinch as the door opened then shut as Gibbs walked in. He sat in the chair across from her.

"You shot one of my agents." Gibbs said. No response. "Out of revenge. In cold blood." Again, no response. Gibbs pulled out five pictures and strewn them across the table. They were pictures of the men Xana had shot when she escaped from the lab.

"Do you know who these men are?" No response. "They're the men you killed. You shot them. Left them to die."

Finally Xana looked up. Her glare made Tony flinch from behind the glass. "They shot at me first." Her voice was hoarse.

Gibbs asked kept talking, but Xana gave no other response. She was tough. Gibbs didn't want to, but he started yelling at her as if she was a marine. Xana looked up at him and smirked. "Do you think you scare me? I've seen far more horrible things than you." She said smugly.

Gibbs sat down. It was time to try something different. Something far more personal. "You think you're the only one who ever shed a tear?" He asked. Xana almost looked taken back. "Well your not. I had a family once. A wife and a little girl. They're both dead now. Murdered."

Xana lowered her eyes. "I'm sorry. I really am. I know what it feels like to loose a loved one. You stand where I do in misfortune." She said softly. Her eyes narrowed. She glared at him. "But while you mourn your own life, tell me what I, too, am suffering. I lost my home, my family, I lost my freedom! All before I was ten years old. Can you say the same? I think not."

Xana looked at his tie and sat up. "You chose, this morning, to put on that tie. I don't have that luxury. None of us do. And we live in America. Land of the Free and Home of the Brave. Home of the Brave, yes. Land of the Free? For you, yes. But for us, no." She decided to drive it right on back home. "You said you lost your wife. You were married once. I envy you. There are two hundred and fifty kids in this laboratory, a new child created every day. This has been going on for the past twenty years since the project started. And out of all those kids, myself included, many of whom never lived to see infancy, will never live to marrying age."

Xana shook her head. "Out of all of them, none of them have lived to see passed age thirteen." She looked away. "I am the exception. That's why they kept me alive. If anyone else was to break away, they would catch them to keep the operation secret, then kill them because none of the other kids can know about the outside world. But I was kept alive because I was different. I was strong. I was a successful… experiment. So they wanted to keep me alive to study me, to find out why I was so strong."

Xana leaned back in her chair, as if remembering something from a long time ago. "I escaped the first time because of a fire. The whole lab caught fire, and they had to get as many of us experiments out and moved to a different location, as they could. We are not allowed to leave the 'test tube' we were created in until we are two years old. We're not stable enough to survive in the outside world until then. I was still in mine. I was only one and a half. The lady who carried my test tube out, dropped me, breaking the glass. I shouldn't have been stable enough to survive. She knew this and knew I was a lost cause. She left me alone to die. Everyone left."

Xana closed her eyes. "But I survived. I survived until morning when the firemen did a check for survivors. There I was. And since no one claimed me, I was placed in a orphanage where I was adopted by my family. I wonder… if I had died… would they still be alive now? Hm. Death is a funny thing. The debt that every man must pay for his life. We live each day, almost longing for death. But we don't take our own lives because we have hope that someday we may be freed."

Tears pooled in her eyes. "I admire the other kids in the lab. They endure each day with such strength… While I am barely able to pull myself through. We suffer the same things, so I wonder why it is so much harder for me to pull through. But I think I know. They, who have never left the that building, have never known evil, and do not know grief. While I, who was happy once-" She stopped. "Oh, do you see how far I fall?" She yelled at Gibbs.

Xana sat back down shaking her head, as if in shame. "Oh hypocrite. How can I mourn my own life while they have never even seen the sun?" She looked at Gibbs, her eyes glazed. "Oh take me away, quick, to the house of death, where I may weep these miserable last hours before my own _murder_. El Diablo knows now that I posses far more trouble than I am worth." She snapped.

Gibbs shook his head. "I have no intention of turning you back over to El Diablo."

Xana shook her head. "Must you always be the hero, Agent Gibbs?" She snapped, but there was relief buried in her eyes.

Gibbs leaned forward. "If you want to free them so badly, why didn't you come to the police when you were free?"

"I learned many things in that lab, Agent Gibbs. We are human. We are a xenophobic species. How would the citizen of D.C.- of America, react to learn that two hundred and fifty genetically altered super-humans are running around? I can guarantee that we 'experiments' do not want to leave that lab for the first time, only to wind up as the Little Rock Nine."

Gibbs sighed. He understood what she was talking about. She had a very good point. And it brought up another problem. He needed to discus this with Ducky. So he picked up all of his papers and left the room.

When Gibbs opened the door, he looked up and saw Hestia standing in the hallway. She walked into the interrogation room.

Xana looked up. "Hestia!" She cried, her eyes bright with joy and wet with tears. She stood up and ran over to hug her.

But Hestia did not show the same happiness in return. Her eyes were narrow and dark. She pushed Xana away.

"Hestia, what's wrong?"

"You broke your promise." Hestia said coldly.

Xana looked into her eyes. "Hestia…"

"You're no better than El Diablo! Hurting people just to watch them suffer!"

"Hestia… I didn't…"

"You didn't what? Shoot him because you wanted to see him suffer? Why then?" Her voice was icy, and filled with hurt.

Xana offered no response. "That's what I thought." Hestia snapped. From behind the glass, Tony, Ziva and McGee watched with slight horror as the scene unfolded. "You shot him because you wanted to cause him pain."

Tears began to streak Xana's face.

"That's why I turned you in. I won't let you become another El Diablo. I won't let you hurt anyone else."

Xana's face turned that of horror and pain. "Hestia…"

"EED8-97IL. That's how I will be referred to now. The name you gave me means nothing to me. Just as you mean nothing to me." Hestia hissed, her voice full of spite. She turned around and exited the room, leaving Xana alone in the silence.

Xana out stretched her arm, tears running like rivers down her face. "Hestia! Come back! Please, I'm sorry!" She said in quivering breaths, as she lost the one person that she knew would be there for her. The ground called to her. Her knees gave way and she crumpled, fell length, the foot of the door. She buried her face into the concrete floor, as she had done every night for five years. Except this time, there was no hope, there was no where left to run.


	11. Chapter 10: The Young Boy Astyanax

Hey, sorry for the wait. This chapter's title is a referance to a greek tragedy called: Trojan Women. If you've read it, I'd really like to know, because that's totally awesome! So PM me or Review it or something! (insert happy face here)

Disclaimed: I don't own NCIS or Trojan Women

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><p>Still, Xana waited alone in interrogation. Hours passed, and because she was too stubborn -too broken hearted- to give them any more information, they kept her in that room. As the hours passed, sleep claimed her, and she drifted away into a much happier world. Usually her dreams consisted of meeting with her deceased family, or friends from the lab who had disappeared. But The dream she had her was different. She dreamt about someone -a woman- whom she had never meet before. Perhaps it was the uncomfortable accommodations as she slept on with her head on the table. What ever it was, the woman she saw had brown hair and brownish eyes.<p>

Xana sworn she had seen her somewhere before. Then it hit her: There was a picture in remembrance of this person hanging in the NCIS office. They were standing outside somewhere. There were lots of trees, the morning sunlight breaching through the leaves and clouds.

Xana took a step forward. "Who are you?" She ventured.

The woman took a long look around. "Do you mind if I ask where we are?" She asked. Xana cocked her head to one side. "This is _your_ dream. I was just wondering if this was someplace out of a memory, of just someplace you dreamed up."

Xana took a look around for herself. "I- I don't actually know." She looked up at the woman again. "So, who are you?"

The lady smile. "My name is Caitlin Todd. You can just call me Kate, though."

"You worked at NCIS once. I know because I saw your picture."

"Is there a question in that statement?"

"No, but… Well, why are you here? I'm a criminal to your people. I- I…"

"Shot McGee? I know. But it's all right. Xana, listen to me. Your brother and sister are in serious danger. I'm telling you this because you need to save them. Children's blood had been spilled too much, lately."

"But what can I do? I'm handcuffed and locked away."

"You know, the handcuffs aren't as unbreakable as they seem. You should be able to pick yours with a feather, like you did the first time."

"But I don't have a feather."

"You know, if you lick your hair, and let it dry, it will be stiff like a feather." Kate said, smiling.

Xana smiled, but her smile faded. "Why are you telling me this? I'm a criminal."

"To my team you are. But, you see, my team can be a bit… naïve sometimes, when it comes to matters like this. Matters whose outcome can't be… well can't be predicted in your gut." She said, thinking longingly of Gibbs. Kate gave Xana a curt nod. "Goodbye for now. It's time to wake up." She said, smiling.

Xana shook her head and stiffly looked around. She was still, sadly in the interrogation room. She felt her hair, that had grown stiff from sleeping on it. She be came vaguely aware of people. Although she didn't know who, but she could feel the vibrations of two other people on the other side of the darkened glass, traveling through the earth towards her. She didn't know, but on the other side of the room, Abby and Jimmy were watching her.

"She doesn't look dangerous." Jimmy said. "She looks like a scared little girl."

Jimmy's comment made Abby flinch, going back on her judgment, wondering if it was just of her to judge.

Xana stood up and put her hand on the glass. "You know what my favorite play, ever is?" She asked.

She excepted no response and received none. So she answered her own question. "A sad play. The Greek tragedy, _Trojan Women_, by Euripides. It takes place after the events of Homer's _Iliad_, about the women of Troy as they wait to be taken as slaved by the Argives. The Greeks." She smiled. "At one point, the young boy, Astyanax, is thrown from the battlements of Troy because Hector, the warrior who killed Achilles, was his father. When his body is brought to Queen Hecuba, queen of Troy and grandmother of Astyanax, she is over come with grief. She crouches by the boy's body and asks: '_What will the poets say? What will be written on your monument? __Here lies the little child the Argives killed because they were afraid of him.__ That? The epitaph of Greek shame._'"

Xana took a step back, unlocking the handcuffs with her hair. "I don't know who's back there, but I ask of you this: If you won't let me see my brother and my sister, will you at least let me save them? Or will you let innocent blood- children's blood- be spilled? Because you were afraid? If you let them die, at least make it easier on them, and hurl them from the battlements of Troy. They're not the only ones who need to be saved. I swear I will give whatever it takes, even my life, to free my brothers and sisters in the laboratory."

Xana gazed at her own reflection. "But I know that you are too afraid of me to let me save them. If I am a Trojan Woman, then cast you as the Argives." The looked at the unlocked handcuffs around her wrists. "But I will not let them die. I will die trying if I must." She held up the handcuffs and dropped them on the ground. She ran to the door and forced it open.

Abby and Jimmy ran outside, hastily. When Xana ran into the hall, she found her path blocked by the two. She must move them because there was no other way; the opposite direction was a dead end.

"I'll call Gibbs." Jimmy said, frantically stumbling around for his cell phone.

Abby paused for a moment. She thought about Hestia sitting alone in her lab. She turned around and closed Jimmy's phone. "No." She walked towards Xana. "I have every reason to hate you, for shooting Timmy. And I have every reason to catch you here and lock you up for the rest of your life."

Abby looked at Xana. "But something is telling me to let you go. I think it's Kate." she said. Kate stood by Abby's side, although Abby didn't know it. Kate smiled then disappeared. "I'm not ready to forgive you for shooting Timmy, but I will be. You know, I was Andromache in Trojan Woman for a collage play. You will have to go through a lot of floors before you reach the exit, but I have that you will succeed. Please, just don't shoot anyone." Abby smiled, and gave Xana a hug, much to her surprise. "Don't let Astyanax be thrown from the battlements of Troy." She said. Xana nodded, and Abby and Jimmy moved out of the way as she ran by.

"Good luck." Abby whispered.

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><p>Thanks for reading!<p>

Note: For those who don't know, Andromache is the daughter in law of Hecuba, wife of Hector, and mother of poor Astyanax


	12. Chapter 11: And Who We Trust

Xana ran down the lonely city road as the dark of night stalked her, desperate to claim her. She turned behind her to see if the NCIS agents were still pursuing her. Nope. She guessed that they had given up long ago; she was far too fast for them.

"Weenies," she said smugly. She looked in front of her. There were hundreds of homes, apartments, stores, businesses, and buildings in general, as far as the eye could see. Sakura and Sousuke could be anywhere. There was no way she would be able to search every building in the state in time to save them.

As discouragement claimed her, seven tall, dark looking figures stepped out of the shadows. They were all wearing white lab coats. One of them, presumably the one in charge, stepped forward to speak. Xana couldn't see his eyes, because of a white light reflecting off of his glasses.

"Xana, come with us if you want to see your siblings alive." He said, without any emotion in his voice at all.

"Why should I trust you?" Xana hissed in response.

"You shouldn't," He said sneered. "But you need us,"

Xana raised an eyebrow. "How so?" He asked.

"You have no clues, no leads at all, to where your family is located. We're the only ones who can tell you," He said.

Xana stepped forward and grabbed him by his collar. "Tell me where they are… now,"

"If you want to know, you'll have to come with us."

"You do realize that the logical course of action for me to take would be to run away now, and alert the authorities, right?" Xana threatened.

"But you can't go to the authorities. You're a fugitive."

"It would be stupid to go with you. Diablo sent you. I know he did. If I went with you, I'd be digging my own grave. I'd be committing suicide." Xana said. None of the men gave any sort of response, moving forward, letting her know that there was no escape. Xana met them with icy eyes, and smirked.

"I'll go with you," She shrugged. "But not because you out number me, no, but because I out match you. All of you," She smirked. She let them grab a hold of her arms. But when they tried to drag her away, she refused to budge. So they released her, and lead her away instead.

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.

McGee knocked on the door to Abby's lab. The doctors had decided, after only forty eight hours, that a wheel chair was useless, so they gave him crutches instead. He didn't know why, but he kept thinking about the day when the team met Ayumi. Her words echoed in his mind over and over.

"_Well you gotta tell her that you love her all the time, or she'll forget. And you gotta tell her you love her right now because, if you don't, you might never ever get the chance again. Then you'll be sad, like me. And I like you. I don't want you to be sad."_

"Who is it?" Abby called from inside the locked doors.

"Abby open the door. It's McGee." He said.

Abby was hesitant, but she decided to open the door for him. Hestia was sitting in a corner, looking away, obviously deep in thought. Abby was working at her computer, although she wasn't doing anything, trying to look like she wasn't upset, even though she was.

"Abs…" McGee started.

"If you're going to lecture me about letting Xana go, then don't. Tony and Ziva gave me the lecture already, through the door. And Gibbs was in earlier. He didn't yell at me but he gave me a pretty wordy speech." She said, hastily.

McGee sighed. "I'm not going to lecture you, Abby. I just want to know why you did it?"

Abby whirled around and glared at him. "What am I? A criminal now?" She hissed.

McGee shook his head. "No, Abs, it's just, when you talked to her in the interrogation room, you were yelling at her like you wanted to rip her head off. Then you just up and let her go."

"Well, I decided to watch her. Not like stalking, but I was angry. I was watching her, just sitting there and-"

"I thought you said you never wanted to see her again. You said she was a monster." McGee interrupted.

"Well I did, but then Ducky convinced me to go see her. He said: 'If you're going to lock this person up for the rest of her life, at least look her in the eye once, before you do it. Because I'm not sure that she is the monster to make her out to be.'"

"So why let her go?"

"When she fell asleep on the table, she looked so happy. She looked so little. Then Palmer said something that made me realize that I was in denial about her. That I was making her out to be far worse than she was."

"What did he say?"

"He saw Xana sleeping so peacefully, her face covered in dirt and scratches, and said: 'She doesn't look dangerous. She looks like a scared little girl.'" Abby said quietly.

"And so you just up and let her go?" McGee asked, some accusation in his voice.

"McGee, it wasn't just that. Have you ever read the play Trojan Woman?"

McGee nodded.

"The boy Astyanax was murdered because the Greeks were afraid of him. I wouldn't let two hundred and fifty kids die because we were afraid." She sat down. "But when Xana got out, I was totally prepared to call Gibbs and catch her and lock her up forever. But then I swear, I heard someone talking: 'Let her go. She needs to go. Its meant to be.' And I swear it was Kate's voice. I had to McGee. I had to."

That hit home hard for McGee. He put his arm around Abby. He looked her in the eyes. "I know Abs. I just worry about you. If she had hurt you... I don't know what I'd do..." He stuttered. There was something he had to say and he had to say it now. "Abby, I love you." He said quietly.

McGee pulled her close and pressed his lips against hers. Abby pulled away, confusion brimming in her eyes. "McGee I- I... I love you, too." She whispered. She kissed him back.

Half way through the kiss, Palmer walked in. His head was down, he was staring at something in an evidence bag. "Hey, Abby? Dr. Mallard-" he stopped when he looked up and saw them. He stared at them for a moment. "I'll come back later." he muttered, surprised, then exited.

Hestia smiled. It was about time. She stood up and snuck out of the room. She wandered through the hallway. Most of the agents had long since left by now. Wanting somewhere she could be alone and think, Hestia walked into the interrogation room. The one whose previous owner had been Xana. She was horribly angry with Xana, but for some reason, she felt guilty about being angry with her.

Hestia walked over to the table. There was something wedged to the underside of the table. A note. She removed it and unfolded it. She began read it.

_"Dear Hestia,_

_I don't know if you will ever find this note. Even if you do, I don't know if you will read this. I know you hate me for shooting Agent McGee. Believe me, I hate myself too. Hestia I admire your sense of justice, but if you turn me in, I will not come quietly. I have spent days going back on myself, wondering if I have done the right thing. But I realize now, that I cannot go back on my judgment anymore. My own desires do not matter anymore. The only thing thy matters is saving our brothers and sisters from the lab. I don't know if we'll ever meet again in this life, so I want you to know how much I love you, little sister. I'm glad we got to go on this adventure together. I'm glad we got to be friends. I'm glad I got to know you, Hestia. I would relive that whole awful experience, if I could know you again. I'm so sorry for breaking my promise. I've made so many mistakes, and I pray that you don't make the same. You know who you are. You are Hestia. Never forget that."_

Hestia read the note. Tears welled in her eyes. There was something under the note: Xana's only and most prized possession, a purple and red bracelet. Hestia was so confused. She leaned against the wall, cradling the bracelet. Hestia was sure that she was hallucinating because Tobias appeared by her side.

"Tobias!" she squealed and hugged the six year old boy whom she had watched disappear only weeks earlier.

"Hestia, it's good to see you." he said warmly.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Xana is in serious danger. You must go help her."

Hestia folded her arms. "Why should I?"

"Because she's giving up everything, Hestia."

"So?"

"So, she's a hero. She gave everyone the courage to stand up for themselves. Danny's planning a revolution."

Danny. Hestia knew Danny well. Danny was the oldest, before Xana came. He was like an older brother to her. Other than herself, he was Xana's closest friend. Hestia was well aware of the fact that he liked Xana, and she was sure that Xana liked him back.

"Don't deny it. You know that Xana was a hero. You want to forgive her. I can tell. So why won't you?" Tobias asked.

"Because she'll just be another El Diablo!"

"You think that because she shot that agent."

Hestia nodded.

"Let me tell you, if it was El Diablo, there would be no remorse. Xana has spent every free moment she has, wishing she could go back in time and stop herself from shooting him. The only emotion she feels right now, is regret." Tobias knew she knew he was right. "There's one huge difference between Xana and El Diablo: Xana has a heart. And that makes all the difference in the world."

Hestia felt horrible inside. Tobias was right. She needed to forgive Xana.

"You have to forgive Xana, but more importantly, you have to forgive yourself. You have to save Xana." Tobias said urgently. "Hestia, your time here is coming to a close. It's almost time to say goodbye. You know what you have to do before you go. Please, it will make goodbye easier." He pleaded.

"What do you mean I have leave? I just got here! Where am I going?" Hestia asked.

Tobias shook his head. "You'll find out soon. Goodbye Hestia. We'll meet again, soon." he said. Tobias smiled and was gone.

Hestia felt the hate in her heart melt away. She slid the bracelet onto her wrist. But she was so confused. Where was she going? Her heart dropped and all her questions were answered, as a tiny blue orb of light emanated off of her arm and floated towards heaven.


	13. Chapter 12: Sakura and Sousuke

_Nine year old Xana ran down the ally. She gripped Sakura and Sousuke's tiny five year old hands, as tight as she could. She must out run that horrible man! She skidded to a halt on the pier. It seemed that she wasn't fast enough. Jonathan Franks had blocked the path. Men trained guns on her. Instinctively, she stood in front of Sakura and Sousuke, to protect them._

"_You're the man who shot my brother!" Xana yelled._

"_Very good. You have a very sharp memory. But then again, I did design you to have a photographic memory." Franks smirked._

"_What do you want?" Xana hissed._

"_Tell me, what's your earliest memory? The fire? With the men in white coats, and the test tubes? Do you remember that?"_

"_What do you want?"_

"_Xana, I created you. You belong to me. I want you to come with me. That's why I killed your family."_

"_And if I don't?" _

"_Then I'll kill the only family you have left!" The guns were retrained to face the small children clinging at Xana's side. _

_Xana turned around to face her brother and sister. She knew she had lost._

"_Xana, what's he talking about?" Sakura asked._

_Xana knelt down and embraced her siblings in a tight hug. "Oh Sakura… Oh Sousuke… I'm so sorry…" Tears trickled down her face._

"_Why are you so sad?" Sousuke asked, trying to wipe the tears away._

_Xana grabbed his hand and kissed it. "Sakura, Sousuke, I have to go now, because they'll kill you if I don't. I want you to promise me something. Promise you'll never forget who you are."_

"_We promise."_

_She hugged them even tighter. "I have to go now. Sakura, Sousuke, I want you to run. Run as fast as you can. Don't ever stop until you can't go any farther. Never look back."_

_Sakura squeezed her arm. "Wait Xana… don't go…"_

"_I'm sorry. This is goodbye." She wiped the tears from their faces. "But don't cry. Goodbye isn't forever. We'll see each other again someday. I love you."_

"_I love you, too." They said in unison._

_Xana started to stand up. She pushed them away. "Go, run!" She ordered. She watched as Sousuke took his sister's hand and ran._

_Xana turned around, and slowly walked towards Jonathan Franks. She stopped once, looking behind her as her brother and sister ran away. She closed her eyes. "Be safe…" She whispered. She walked right up to Franks. She balled up her fist and slugged him in the face, breaking his nose and jaw. Then she knelt down and put her hands in the air, letting them lead her away to a big black van that would carry her away._

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.

It was almost midnight. Hestia stood up, prepared to leave the interrogation room, when she suddenly heard footsteps. The footsteps were soon replaced with voices. Hestia recognized the voices as belonging to Jimmy Palmer and Anthony DiNozzo.

"Tony?" Palmer asked.

"What is it, Autopsy Gremlin?" Tony said, obviously very tired.

"Can I asked you something?"

"Ask away."

Palmer cleared his throat. He hesitated for a moment then spoke. "Does Gibbs still have those rules?" He asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"Even the one about not dating co-workers?"

"Yes, Palmer- Wait, why do you ask?" DiNozzo asked, intrigued. "You didn't-"

"No, it wasn't me, sir."

"Who?"

"Er, I don't think I should say…"

"Spill, Autopsy Gremlin!" DiNozzo ordered.

Palmer went silent. But Tony knew how to crack him. "Weren't you supposed to give that to Abby?" Tony asked, pointing to the evidence bag.

"I was, but she and McGee-" He stopped, and a horrified look came onto his face when he realized he had spilled.

"They weren't-"

"No, they were just kissing-" Palmer spilled. He slammed his hand over his mouth. A huge smile slipped onto Tony's face, and he left to go pester the Probie.

Hestia remained in interrogation until the two were gone, fearing that she might get in trouble. She busted out of the room and down the hallway, down the stairs, and into Abby's Lab. Tony, Abby, and McGee were all in there.

"Hestia's what's up?" McGee asked.

"Xana's in trouble!" Hestia cried.

"What?" The three said at the same time.

"El Diablo knows how desperate she is to find Sakura and Sousuke. If he gets to them first, he can use them as bait to catch her! If he catches her, he'll kill her!" She exclaimed.

No one spoke for a long time. Finally, Tony broke the silence. "Probie, get Gibbs. Now."

Hestia narrowed her eyes. "But that's not fair! I know she's a criminal, but you can't just leave her to… wait what?" She wasn't expecting him to agree so easily.

"Probie, go and get Gibbs!" Tony said again.

"Why can't you do it?" McGee asked readjusting his crutches, not wanting to leave Abby after their "moment".

"Because you need to learn to get back on your feet! Besides, I know that you…" Tony leaned forward and whispered the rest into McGee's ear. McGee's face drained white, and he hobbled out of the room to get Gibbs.

Abby glared and hit Tony in the arm. "That was mean," she said angrily.

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X

"Does anybody have any idea where these kids are?" Gibbs shouted. It had been almost three hours, and no one, not McGee, not Ziva, not Tony, not even Abby had come up with any results.

The team winced, because no one had any answers. Gibbs knew they needed to hurry. By now, El Diablo could have already murdered Xana. He wasn't going to let children's blood be spilled anymore. Not after Kelly. Even if Xana did shoot McGee. But Gibbs did understand her pain and her rage towards Jonathan Franks, the character McGee had been playing when she shot him. Actually, Xana, it seemed, knew his pain. She knew the pain of loosing a loved one. She, perhaps knew it better than Gibbs. But Gibbs didn't realize how much the girl had lost until Ziva spoke up from her desk.

"I found them, Gibbs." She whispered.

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.

Rain poured down from the sky, as lightning flashed. "We've been walking for three hours." Xana hissed to her captors. No one gave a response. "You know," Xana said to the leader. "When you were a kid, they invented these things called cars." She said.

The man turned around, tired of her retorts, and tried to hit her. But she was too fast and ducked, kneeing him "where it counts" so to speak. "Wow, that was effective." Xana said sarcastically.

They stopped. Xana looked around at her surroundings. A cemetery. Not once did she think of the worst. They kept walking, and came to a halt in front of several headstones. El Diablo was waiting for them.

Xana looked at the headstone in front of her. "Why have you brought me to my parents' graves?" She asked.

"Your parents? They were not your parents. You have no family." El Diablo retorted.

"Oh, I forgot. I'm a lesser being because I was born in a laboratory. Just the end product of an experiment. Tell me, what is to become of me now that your experiment is over?"

"Over? It's not over. Sometimes, the experiment will involve killing the lab rat." El Diablo said smugly.

Rage built up inside of her. "Where are they?" She yelled. "Why did you take them away from me?"

Two men grabbed her arms and thrust her down into the mud. Xana growled, and looked up. In front of her were two headstones, smaller than the rest. Her mouth went dry. "No…" She whispered. She traced her hand on the etching on the stones.

_Sakura Meling Haroshimoto_

_2001-2006_

_Sousuke Lin Haroshimoto_

_2001-2011_

"How…?" She asked, retracing the etching over and over again.

"Five years ago, after loading you into that van, Franks thought it a good idea to kill the kids. Afraid they might spill. He shot 'um both. He hit the girl dead on. Probably died real fast. He thought he hit the boy, but he didn't. I was sure the kid was dead too, 'til you broke out. I had to do some digging. See if their was anyone out there you'd be willing to sacrifice your life fur. Came across the boy's name. So I kidnapped 'im. Hopin' to hold 'im hostage to get you. But the kid was real sick. Died only a few days after I got 'im."

Xana stopped listening. She stared at the stones in front of her. She was alone now. The world was washed away by tears. Why must it always be the good who die? She put up no fight as they drug her down the other end of the cemetery, to that old van. She had no strength to save her family. She had no strength left to save herself. Hurry Hestia.

* * *

><p>I know this chapter was really sad, but I felt like writing something really sad. I promise it's gonna get happier. Remember? Ayumi's still alive! There's gonna be more McAbby an Tiva, and possibly some Jibbs. Thanks for reading!<p> 


	14. Chapter 13: Rescued

Sorry for the wait! I've had the worst case of writter's block!

* * *

><p>Four special agents and a six year old girl, climbed into the van to save someone who had formally been known as a criminal. Gibbs as to drive, much to McGee and DiNozzo's fear. Gibbs never would have let a six year old girl sit in the front set, but these were special circumstances.<p>

McGee groaned with pain, as he attempted to climb in the back of the van. Gibbs turned around. "McGee you stay here. I don't want you injuring yourself further."

McGee shook his head. "Sorry, Boss. But that's not going to happen." He said, throwing his crutches in the back and climbing in.

Gibbs didn't argue with him, or try to reason or convince him. He knew there would be no way he could stop McGee from coming with them.

Tony nudged McGee in the ribs. "Hey, Gibbs is right, Probie. You should probably just wait here."

McGee shook his head. That wasn't going to happened anytime soon.

"DiNozzo, if the Elf Lord wants to get himself shot again, just let him do it." Gibbs said.

Tony couldn't figure out McGee's stubbornness. Why did he want to come so bad? Then it hit him. Abby had made McGee promise to take care of Hestia. If anything happened to her, she'd never forgive him. Darn his conscience, he'd never forgive himself. But there was something else. McGeek has the same respect and admiration for Xana, as he did for Gibbs.

"What's an Elf Lord?" Hestia asked, from the front seat. Ziva and Tony laughed when McGee's face went bright red in response to the question. "What's an Elf Lord?" Hestia asked again, when she received no response.

"It's McGee." Gibbs clarified, as the van pulled away.

"Oh." Hestia said, still clearly confused.

"So where are we looking, exactly?" Tony asked.

"They were at the cemetery, but I'd bet 'cha money that they already left. They're probably going back to the lab by now."

"Where is this laboratory exactly?" Ziva asked.

"I don't actually know. I've never actually seen the outside. They knocked me out when they gave me to you guys, remember? But, just guessing, it'd have to be somewhere huge that nobody goes to anymore."

"There's an abandoned TV station about two hours from here." Tony pointed out.

Hestia shrugged. "It's worth a try."

That was the signal for Gibbs. He nodded and slammed on the gas. After a while, the feeling of car sickness became less mutual. Hestia stuck her head out the window, captivated by all of the sights and sounds and smells. She could smell flowers, and wet oak leaves, and fresh cut grass (or at least, as fresh as you can get at four a.m.). She found that an easy way to occupy herself was to shout out ever color she saw.

"Red!" She cried out as they ran through a stop light. Hestia longed to cry and plead and beg to Gibbs to slow down so she could look at everything. But she knew that there wasn't time. She had no more time here. But soon there would be time. Perhaps she and Tobias would watch the sunrise together from the clouds in heaven. She would like that.

That's when an unmarked van pulled up to the side of their van. Hestia looked at the man driving the van. He had beady eyes, a stubbly beard and a scar running from above his eyebrow to his jaw. There was something about that man that made her shiver with fear. He turned a sharp right, while Gibbs kept going straight.

"Gibbs stop! That was Diablo! Turn around! That was Diablo!" Hestia yelled. Gibbs eyes widened. He flipped a "U"ie so fast, he had to grab onto the back of Hestia's shirt so she wouldn't fall out the window. He drove up to the vehicle, and pulled out his ID card. "Stop! Federal Agents!" He yelled. But Diablo didn't seem fazed at all. He pulled out a forty five caliber and shot at Gibbs. Gibbs swerved the car, pulling out his gun and shooting.

"That isn't gonna work!" Hestia yelled. They needed a better plan. She looked closely at the top of the van, and saw the same bars stretching across their van, as were across the top of their own van. She got an idea.

An idea that would probably kill her.

Hestia stuck her head out the window, and grabbed onto the roof of the car. Slowly but surly, she got onto the roof of a van that was going 90 mph at least.

"Hestia! What are you doing?" McGee called out from the back.

"Saving Xana!" She yelled. "Agent Gibbs, pull up as close to the other van as you possibly can!" Gibbs nodded and pulled close to the van.

Well, it was now or never.

"If I die, I want parrot tulips on my grave. You hear me?" She called, banging on the roof of the van.

"We do hear you, Hestia. And we will comply." Ziva responded from inside the haul of the van.

Hestia took a deep breath and leaped from the roof of the NCIS van, to the roof of Diablo's van. She missed by just a little, and came crashing through the window. "Hiya." She smirked, when El Diablo turned to look at her with a look of disgust and surprise. He raise his gun and shot at her several times. One bullet grazed her shoulder, but other than that she got off OK. She kicked the gun out of his hand and out of the window. She kicked him in the face, causing the car to swerve into the opposite side of the road, where an incoming semi showed no signs of slowing down.

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.

From the back of the van, Xana was distraught. She wouldn't respond to anything that either of the two guards said. She kept muttering things about Sakura and Sousuke and Hestia. The van swerved left and right, making her feel sick. It was as though her brain stopped functioning. The shock of death too great for her to comprehend. Suddenly, she could swear that she heard Hestia speaking from the front of the van. That's what snapped her out of it.

"You killed Sakura and Sousuke." She hissed. The guards gave no response. "You killed them. You murdered them." The more she spoke the sentence, the angrier she became. She kicked one of the men in the head, knocking him unconscious. She picked up the gun and pointed it and the other man.

"P-p-please don't shoot! Please!" He cried, putting up his hands.

"I ain't gonna shoot you, big baby," She muttered, thinking of the promise she made to Abby. "But you are gonna be sore in the morning." She shrugged, hitting him in the head, knocking him unconscious. She stepped forward and began to work on the lock in the back of the van.

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.

El Diablo swerved out of the way just in time. "I knew you didn't have it in you." Hestia said smugly, and fought him for the wheel. Suddenly, the back door swung open, and Xana was hanging off of it. Xana didn't scream, but she looked like she might as she flailed helplessly in the air. The NCIS truck pulled close to try to get her to safety. Tony had moved up to the front seat and reached for her.

Xana narrowed her eyes thinking they were going to take her to Juvie. When she swung close enough, she kicked DiNozzo in the face. He fell backwards with a bloody nose.

Hestia looked out of the rear view mirror and saw Xana put Tony in his place. She could help but laugh. But she stopped laughing when she realized that Xana must not trust him enough. She leaned out the window. "Xana, they're the good guys!" She yelled.

Xana swung out again. "Hestia?" She asked. What was she doing here?

"You have to trust them! You have-" Her sentence was cut off when Diablo pulled her back inside the van.

The door swung close to the van again, and Xana threw herself inside the open window, right on top of Tony, who made a faint, squeaking sound.

Hestia struggled to break free of Diablo's grasp.

"Stop fighting it." Diablo sneered, tightening the grip he had around her throat.

"Over my dead body." She hissed.

"Must you be so stubborn? Why do you risk everything you have with death-defying stunts?"

"Because, I've got nothing to loose." Hestia hissed, as the lights once again began to emanate off of her body.

Diablo gasped and released his grip. She escaped out of the window, waving her arms to signal Gibbs to come close. But Diablo swerved, knowing her off of the roof of the van. Hestia screamed and hit the road with a resounding "thump".

"Hestia!" Xana screamed. Gibbs had gone at least a hundred yards too far. Xana threw herself out of the van, getting a nasty road rash, and propelled herself towards her fallen friend. Gibbs slammed on the brakes and all scrambled out of the car.

Xana dropped to her knees by Hestia. She had a nasty gash on her forehead, and a pretty hideous case of road rash, but other than that and probably some broken ribs, Hestia was OK. Xana cradled the little girls head in her arms.

"Xana! Let go! I'm fine! Xana, I can't breathe!" Hestia yelled, pushing her away.

Xana let her grip go, but embraced her again. "Oh Hestia… I missed you so much!" She cried. Tony ran forward to make sure she was OK, but Ziva held him back. This was their moment.

"I'm sorry for being such a jerk." Hestia said.

Xana ruffled her hair. "It was my fault."

"And I'm sorry about Sakura and Sousuke." Hestia looked down, feeling guilty that she, too, would have to leave soon.

Xana looked down, but she smiled. "You would have liked them. They were so sweet."

"Xana…" Hestia said sadly, hugging her again. Xana hugged her back, holding her tight. Suddenly, the orbs of light came off of Hestia's body again. The light became strong. She looked away.

"Hestia, what's wrong? What's happening?" Xana asked confusion dancing in her voice, fear and concern lighting her eyes.

Hestia looked back up at Xana with a sad smile. "It feels… like it's time… to say goodbye…"


	15. Chapter 14: Though Parting Hurts

"What? Goodbye? What do you mean?" Xana asked, stepping forward. There was hurt and confusion in her voice, and pain in her eyes.

Hestia looked down. Her face was ashen, but she smiled anyways. "Tobias told me. My stress level peaked a long time ago. That's why… I'm destined to disappear from here."

Xana's body shook, her heart was riven. She had just lost everything. Now she was to loose even more. "H-huh? What? Wh-why? Wh-why? I don't understand!" She cried, tears threatening to stain her face.

Hestia looked at Xana and smiled even wider. "Thank you for everything! I'm going to disappear from here now, but Xana, I'll never forget you."

From behind them, the NCIS special agents were watching. Ziva rarely ever showed emotion, but now she caught Tony in a fierce hug, not even bothering to hold back tears. Tony, himself, wasn't trying to act tough either. He held her tight, his own eyes red with tears. Gibbs was watching, his face masked. But his eyes gave away his sorrow. He had seen this happen before. He had to say goodbye to a child much like her, once before. Wasn't that enough? Why did he have to loose someone he loved, again. McGee, though, let no tears fall. His heart was shattered, sunken to his shoes. He was far to shocked and sad to let tears fall.

Xana's face shot up to look Hestia in the eyes. "W-wait a second! Don't you understand? You made me strong! You were my reason to fight! If you were to go… I… I don't… know… what I would…"

Hestia stamped her foot on the ground. "No, Xana. You have to be strong on your own now. You have to live! Go back and save our 'brothers' and 'sisters'. It's not fair that we're the only ones who get to enjoy the sun! Get them free. Then tell the world about what happened here, so that nothing like this ever happens again."

Xana's whole body shook again. Tears fell from her eyes, and they didn't stop. "Urk… Hestia… Don't, Hestia!… Don't… Don't go…" She whispered, tears sliding down her face.

Hestia looked at Xana, in sad amazement. She read up and wiped a tear from Xana's face. "Your eyes… your eyes are leaking…" She said. "I feel something…" She felt something wet fall from her eyes, too. She reached up and wiped them away. "What- what are these?"

Xana couldn't help but force a laugh. She looked up and wiped the tears from Hestia's face. "These are tears. You're crying."

"Crying?"

Xana nodded. "All living beings cry when their bodies are in pain. But people are the only ones who cry when their _hearts _are in pain." Xana smiled as tears dribbled down her face and mixed with the rain. "They say that when angles are sad, and they cry, their tears are filled with life! That's why it rains." She smiled.

Hestia stepped back and looked up at the sky, feeling rain drops gently fall on her face. She looked back to Xana, and smiled back at her, though tears kept falling from her face. But they weren't sad tears, they were happy tears!; She was happy she had gotten to live, to see the sun, the moon, the stars.

Xana caught Hestia in a hug. "I'm so sad," She whispered.

Hestia could feel herself beginning to fade. _The light…_She thought. _The light is getting stronger._ She looked at Xana and McGee, and Ziva, and Tony, and Gibbs. She couldn't tell if those were tears on their faces, or rain. _I guess that means… my time… my time with them… is up…_ "I have to go." Hestia said sadly, taking a step back.

"But why?" Xana asked.

Hestia only looked at her sadly. "I don't know. But it's all right. Thank you for caring about me. I'm so glad I got to know you, Xana. And thank you for your tears. But please don't cry. You should be happy! You're alive! And life… is wonderful!" Hestia whispered happily.

"Wait Hestia…"

Hestia only gave her a sad smile. "Stay alive, ok?" She asked. "I'm sure it'll be fun!" She giggled, bittersweet tears staining her face, as if to say a final goodbye. The light became bright, and enveloped her. Xana reached out her arm in hopes to find her friend. But when the lights faded, Hestia was gone.

Xana's heart shattered to a thousand pieces. Her knees gave way, and she fell, full length, at the spot where her best friend had once stood. "Hestia… Hestia!… HESTIA!"

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.

Xana knelt on the ground, not once turning to face to NCIS agents. Her breathing was heavy. She dared not speak, or blink. But finally, she spoke up. "Agent McGee," She rasped, her voice hoarse. "You're a smart man. May I ask you a question?"

McGee knew what she would ask. "Of course you may," He said softly.

"Why?" Her voice convoyed no emotion.

"Why, what?"

Xana turned to look at him. McGee was surprised to find her face so red from crying. "Why must the good die? Wh-why did Hestia have to go? Why couldn't she have taken me with her? Why must I be the one to face this destiny? Why must I be the one who lives? Why must I fight this alone? Wh-why must I always be alone? Why am I forced to be sad and alone? Why am I allowed no happiness? Why is it that the things -the people- I love must be taken away from me?" She body shook again, her heart filled with sorrow. "Is this some sort of punishment? Why must other people die to punish me? If this is a punishment, don't kill them, kill me! Please tell me what I did wrong so I can make it right!" She cried. "Why am I supposed to do this alone?"

McGee put a hand on her shoulder. "Xana, listen to me. You are not alone. We're going to help you!" He said gently.

Xana looked over at Gibbs, who nodded.

Xana stood up pushing his hand away. "Please… I appreciate all that you are doing, but I can't let you help me. I figured it out. I won't let anybody else get hurt. I won't let anybody else die because of me. If it's just me, I'm the only one who can get hurt… I'm the only one who can die. That's why I have to face this alone. Don't you understand? If you help me, you'll die, because I am allowed to love no one. I like you guys too much. I can't let you die, too."

"Xana we're not-"

"Kate died, didn't she? We're all just human here. Please, don't follow me. Please, don't die." She said, and ran off in the direction towards the laboratory.

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X

It was five in the morning when Xana had run away. And it was six in the evening, already dark outside, when she got to the factory, the pain in her heart slowing her down. She walked into the closet, but the door was already open. Actually, all of the doors were open. Panic gripped her heart. She ran down the stairs through the hallways, into the lab. The lights were off. No one was in sight.

"Hello?" She called. Panic tightened. No answer. It took her almost two hours, but she ran through the hallways, searching in every room, but the who place was empty. The kids were gone, the faculty was gone, all of the machines and equipment were gone. She ran back up the stairs and ran into the main floor of the factory. He moved them! Diablo moved them! He must have moved them all after he sent Hestia away. A cautious man he said he was, but she didn't realize he was _this_ cautious.

"NO!" She screamed, slamming her fists on the walls. She sunk down to the floor. She wanted to cry, but she didn't. It was far too cold. She looked outside and saw that it was snowing. Hard.

Xana slammed her fist on the wall again. How had she been so stupid? It was at that moment that she realized that she needed their help. She needed NCIS help. She couldn't do it alone. She didn't have time to waste. She had to go, now! She stepped outside, but faltered. There was a good two inches of snow on the ground. The Navy yard was, by foot, several hours away, and she was barefoot. She shook her head, there was no time to waste! She ran outside despite the snow, and started running, running, running.

The ground was cold, the air was cold, she was cold. Xana had no shoes, and no jacket. But she kept running. She kept running for… -for Hestia's sake. She slipped in several puddles, and an hour and a half into her jog, she was soaking wet. The air outside was around 10 degrees f. at the highest. As she ran, she could feel her cloths freezing to her skin, and her arms growing numb. The time ticked on, perhaps she wouldn't make it.

It was two-thirty in the morning. Xana was so cold. The kind of cold that feels almost warm. The kind of cold that makes the marrow in your bones numb. Xana didn't know where she was, and she couldn't remember why she was running. All she wanted was somewhere dry. The snow was so high now! She trudged over to a sign that read: "Silver Springs Apartments", and slumped down into the snow. She shivered. She couldn't help but remember the fun she used to have in the snow with Sakura and Sousuke, and Ryouji, and the rest of her family. And she couldn't help but cry. The tears froze to her face. She just wanted somewhere warm. She didn't care if she was back in that awful lab, she just wanted to be warm again.

Mustering all of the strength she had left, Xana stood up again, and walked up to the door of the apartment. She tried several times to open it, but it was locked. And she was far to exhausted to break in. She slumped against the door, and didn't cry because she was far too tired. She looked over to the parking lot and got an idea. Underneath the cars looked dry. She scrambled over to the closest car she could find and scrambled under. It was freezing! But it was dry. She curled herself into the tightest ball she could. But she yawned and her eyes began to droop. And soon she couldn't remember why she wasn't sleeping. She closed her eyes and gave way to the darkness.

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X

Hours passed. Morning came. Xana drifted in and out of consciousness the whole night, but found she didn't care enough to even open her eyes, and drifted back to unconsciousness. She became aware of someone entering the parking lot, presumably to go to their car.

"Wow! Look at all that snow!" Xana her a voice say. She knew he voice sounded familiar, but she didn't care enough to put a name to the voice. The voice changed to footsteps growing closer and closer. The footsteps were odd. Sort of like: _step, step, thump! Step, step, thump!_ As though the person were walking with crutches. Xana tried to open her eyes, but her eyes wouldn't obey her. But she didn't care. She just wanted to go back to sleep.

Xana heard the footsteps stop. A car door opened, then… silence.

"What in the…?" The voice said. The car door shut, and the footsteps started walking towards her. "Oh my gosh!" The voice yelled. The footsteps became faster- he was running. They stopped, about a foot away from her.

The man dropped to his knees, making a squeaking sound, as though it pained him to do so. He put a hand on her face but retracted it quickly. "She's so cold…" He said, crestfallen and clearly worried. "Please don't be dead… please don't be dead… please don't be dead…" She could have sworn she heard his whisper. He put a hand on her neck, no doubt to check her pulse. She heard a sigh of relief, and more squeaking as he drug her out from under the car. He picked her up and put her over his shoulder like a fire man would. He turned around and kept started walking, obviously finding it difficult to balance her with his crutches.

But none of that mattered to Xana, as her only wish was to go back to sleep. Soon, her wish was granted and she drifted away again...


	16. Chapter 15: Strange Surroundings

Sorry about the wait. My parents just got divorce, and me, only being 14, well, it's certainly taking a toll. But I promise, the story will be less sad from now on.

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><p>After what felt like an eternity of darkness, Xana finally saw light. And she did not want to walk towards it. But it wasn't like the light you see at the end of the tunnel; the Light of Heaven, the light you see when you're dying. No, it was more like the kind of really bright light your mom shines in your face, on a school morning, in one last attempt to wake you up before resorting to dumping a bucket of water on you.<p>

Xana awoke to find herself in strange surroundings. She was lying on a couch, tightly wrapped in a dark blue flannel blanket; one that looked just like the blanket she used to have as a kid, before her family died. There was a gentle whirring sound, like the sound of a computer. Her face and arms were clean, though they stung a little, as though cleaned with a wash cloth. But she was still in her dirty cloths.

The first thing she noticed was the blanket. It comforted her, and she snuggled under it, again, and breathed a sigh of relief. It was all just a nightmare. She thought, pulling the blanket tight around her. Just a horrible, horrible nightmare. And perhaps it was all a nightmare. Perhaps her family was still alive, her home still intact. But something wasn't right…

Xana shot straight up as she realized that her family had never owned a computer. And indeed she was right. It was not her home, but rather an apartment. Fearing she might be in danger, she lunged for the first thing she saw that could be used as a weapon: a broom. Cautiously, she explored the apartment, like a kitten after first being brought home.

The bedroom was messy, in an almost organized fashion, as though whoever lived here had to get up and leave in a hurry. There was a shelf of magazines, books, movie and game cases, all with a similar, sci-fi appearance. The bathroom was in the same state as bedroom: messy.

There was another bookshelf in the main room. It was filled with old records, and more classical-looking books. Behind that, there was a desk. The desk was very old fashion looking. There was a type-writer, a pipe, a shredder, a record player, and a stack of papers. Xana picked up the paper on the top of the stack. It read: "The Continuing Adventures of L. J. Tibbs". Xana put it back and went to explore the kitchen.

Xana almost screamed when a dog walked into the room. She read the name tag, 'Jethro'. "L.J. Tibbs? A dog named Jethro? Who on earth is coming up with these names?" she cried. The first thing she notices was a box of… dinosaur cereal. "Who eats dinosaur cereal?" She asked mockingly, laughing. Her laughter died down and she stared at the box, her stomach growling. She looked around to make sure no one was watching her, and stuffed a handful of the cereal in her mouth.

"This is disgusting!" She stated after swallowing. She then stuffed several handfuls of cereal in her pockets. After another once around of the apartment, Xana concluded that no one was there.

Suddenly, Xana heard something that seriously upset her. Voices. Right outside the door.

"Don't touch anything. Ok, Tony?"

"Don't be such a McWorry-Wart! I'm just babysitting."

"It's not babysitting! Look, if she wakes up, and she's disoriented, she could kill you!"

Xana gripped the broom even tighter. The door began to open. Xana raised the broom and hit the first person with the broom as hard as she could. Agent McGee fell backwards and hit the blood, holding his bloody nose. Agent DiNozzo pulled out his gun and pointed it at her. In turn, Xana raised the broom and swung it around.

"Drop it! Drop the weapon!" DiNozzo yelled.

"It's a broom!" Xana yelled in response.

"Drop the weapon!" He waved the gun, but hesitated to pull the trigger.

"Broom!" She waved the broom.

"Drop it!"

"You drop your gun!"

"You drop your... er... broom!"

"Not until you drop the gun!"

"Drop it!"

"You drop it!" "You drop it!"

"You!"

"You!"

"Drop the gun or I swear I'll shoot!"

"That's a broom!"

"Ah! Dinosaurs!" Xana yelled, throwing a handful of dinosaur cereals into his face. She turned and ran towards the bathroom, slipping on the cereals. She ran into the bathroom and slammed the door, locking it.

DiNozzo turned to help his partner up. "Um… what just happened?" McGee asked.

Tony shrugged. "I don't know, anymore."

McGee walked to the bathroom and knocked on the door. "Xana?" He asked.

"Ack! Who are you? How did I get here?" She cried.

"Xana, I'm agent McGee remember?" Xana went silent. "Um, I found you, about a week ago, under a car in the parking lot. You almost died."

Xana cautiously opened the door. "So you brought me here. You saved my life." She said.

McGee nodded.

"Why? I almost killed you. Why bother to save me?"

McGee sighed. "I don't know what El Diablo made you think, but the world isn't like that. Your life is just as good as mine, or Agent DiNozzo's life, or anybody's."

"They're gone." She said.

'Whose gone?" Tony asked.

"El Diablo. The Lab. They moved it. I don't know where it is. Diablo's a smart man. I fear our chances of finding them again are slim. I'm worried for my friends. Please, I need your help. Do you have any food?"

"I'm sorry, what?" McGee asked.

"Do. You. Have. Any. Food."

"Um… why?"

"Because I haven't eaten in a week." Xana said flatly.

"Um… yeah, over here…" McGee lead her back into the kitchen and showed her the fridge.

Xana opened the door, but stopped. "What am I doing?" she turned back to McGee and DiNozzo. "Please, will you help me?"

Tony put a hand on her shoulder. "Of course we will. For your- for Hestia's sake."

Xana nodded. "I think she'd like that."


	17. Chapter 16: Only Human

Ok I'm really sorry about the last chapter. It was really weird (actually I think it was maybe one of the weirdest things I've ever written) and clunky, but I think/hope I got my point across. But hey, I wrote it at two in the morning, and I was attempting to be funny (fail). I don't want to redo the chapter only because that would be a huge hassle and I got a nasty case of writers block while writting it. So I apologize about that. Anyways, this chapter along with the last chapter I know seems sort of irrelevent to the plot, but I know where I need the story to go and I'm using these to chapters as transitions so we can get it moving. Please enjoy! R&R!

* * *

><p>After hearing Xana's story, of course Gibbs agreed to help. He still had yet to convince Jenny to let them help, but didn't take to worrying about it. There was only one major problem: there were absolutely no leads, no clues, not even any guesses on to where Diablo had moved the kids. They had dealt with Diablo on cases in the past, but they had never seen the full blown length of his trickery and cruelty. So, Gibbs took it upon himself to "hire" Xana as a consultant on the case. After all, she knew Diablo better than anyone else. Even though Xana refused to accept any money, Gibbs was still sort of worried on how to convince Jenny to let a fourteen year old girl act as a consultant on one of the most dangerous cases NCIS has ever face. But his fears and doubts were put away, when Xana solved two supposedly "unsolvable" cases, all in under an hour. Her photographic memory of the layout of the city proved how one man's alibi was the key to the murder, while her ridiculous attention to detail prove how a witness of the second crime couldn't have been anything but the killer. Gibbs decided he'd ask her later that afternoon.<p>

Agent McGee hobbled into the Bull Pen, struggling to find a balance between his crutches and his brief case. But that was forgotten in almost a second, when he saw the scene in the Bull Pen unfold in front of him. Xana, who to McGee's surprise had a delicately drawn mustache spanning the length of her face, was asleep of his desk, her face pressed into the keyboard. She must have accidentally turned it on or something because the computer was marred with the infamous Blue Screen of Death. Tony (who had three different colored permanent markers tightly grasped in his hand) and Ziva were standing over her, snickering.

Tony turned when he heard McGee walk in. "Shh, Probie be quite. But come here, you've gotta see this," Tony whispered.

McGee, concerned for the safety of his beloved computer, rushed over quickly. "Why is Xana asleep on my desk?" He hissed quietly.

Tony shrugged. "She was already here when we got here," Ziva piped in. "Which is strange… Was she not in Abby's lab last night? Abby said that she could sleep there last night. So why is she here?"

Tony and McGee glanced at each other and shrugged. Abby's lab was the far more optimal place to sleep. It was far more comfy than sleeping at a desk. A sly smile crossed Tony's face again. "We can guess about that later. McGee, watch this!" He snickered quietly.

Tony leaned in close to Xana, trying not to laugh. "Xana, it's time to get up," He whispered in a sing song voice.

Xana knit her eyebrows. "No… I don't want to see the Opera…" She slurred her words, obviously still asleep.

Ziva smiled, she was quite comical in her sleep. Tony held his breath, desperately trying to hold in a laugh, fearing it might wake her up. "Oh, the Opera isn't until four," He whispered, playing along with the conversation.

Xana rolled her head around. "I have four eggs in a basket and they're purple,"

This made McGee smile, and Ziva snicker a little bit. Tony had to take a step back to avoid waking her up from trying to contain laughter. He leaned back in and continued the conversation. "Purple like a dinosaur?"

"Dinosaurs are not purple! They eat apples…"

What on earth was this girl dreaming about? The three very Special Agents could only wonder as she continued to talk. Tony turned to McGee. "Watch this," He smiled evilly, then leaned forward and lightly blew on Xana's face.

Xana twitched a couple of times, and moved her head around. "It's windy today," She said. "No, it's Thursday!" She argued with herself. Her head moved around again. "So am I, let's get some food,"

Ziva and McGee burst out laughing, while Tony, trying so hard to hold in his laughter, couldn't contain it anymore and accidentally spat all over Xana. Xana thought this was some attempt to wake her up, and put the keyboard over her head, thinking it was a pillow. But this only made the agents laugh even harder. Xana, thinking she was asleep in her bed at home, tried to roll over to the other side of the imaginary bed to get away from them, only to fall off of the chair, promptly waking up.

Xana looked around, disoriented. "…Where am I?" She asked groggily. "Why are we laughing?"

"Because DiNozzo finds it amusing to slack off when he should be working to find El Diablo," Gibbs said sternly, walking into the room with his cup of coffee. Gibbs did a double take, and stared at Xana's colorful face, before turning to sit at his desk. DiNozzo and Ziva scrambled to their desks, as McGee attempted to fix his computer, and Xana slowly stood up, sleepily rubbing her keyboard-indented face and, unbeknown to her, smearing the marker.

Gibbs threw Xana some make-up remover that he had specially kept for DiNozzo's pranks.

"What's this?" Xana asked. She narrowed her eyes and grabbed a CD using it as a mirror. Her mouth gapped open and after a moment of dumbfounded shock, she death-glared at DiNozzo. "I'm gonna get you back for this, DiNozzo," She hissed, and began planning a series of pranks as she ran to the bathroom to clean up her face.

Xana walked back into the Bull Pen a few minuets later, her face rubbed red from the washcloth. The threw the bottle back to Gibbs and leaned against a wall.

Suddenly, Abby ran frantically into the room. "Gibbs! Gibbs! Gibbs! Xana's gone! I left her in my lab last night! I swear I did! But she was gone this morning!" Abby cried.

"Abs, calm down. Xana's right here. We found her sleeping on McGee's desk this morning," Tony soothed, as Xana poked her head out from behind the wall she was leaning against.

Abby breathed a sigh of relief. But her expression changed to confusion. "Why was she up here though? There's a bed down in my lab? Why didn't she stay there?"

All eyes turned to Xana, who swallowed and turned bright red, seemingly embarrassed.

"Why did you leave the Lab last night, Xana?" Gibbs asked. Xana looked away, but she could feel what felt like a thousand eyes boring into her soul. When Gibbs asked again, she decided it was only in her best interest, not out of suspicion. So she decided to spill her deepest darkest secret.

"Well…" She started. "The machines were too loud, they kept me up," She lied. Gibbs' icy blue eyes bore into her soul, making her heart pound. Xana sighed. "And… it was too dark. I got scared,"

Another thousand eyes penetrated her. Looks of confusion, this time. "_You're_ afraid of the _dark_?" Tony asked in disbelief.

Xana glared at him. "Yes, I am afraid of the dark. I know this might come as a shock to you, but I'm just as human as you are." She said, angrily.

"Well, I just thought because you-"

"Because I what? Because I'm different? Because I'm genetically altered? Because I was born in a laboratory? Because the circumstances of my birth are different?" Xana hissed defensively. This was clearly a touchy subject for her.

"No, that's not what I meant. I mean, because you spent all that time in that laboratory," Tony said.

Xana sighed. "I can see why you might think that. But if anything, it only made my fear of the dark worse. It made me realize what kind of horrible people are lurking out there, just waiting to take you away to some horrible place. And I guess one might think that's I'd have to get used to the dark, because my room was basically a jail cell. But honestly, they left all of the lights on as a security precaution," Xana looked down. "Sorry I snapped at you," She apologized.

Tony shrugged. "It's OK. After all, you _are_ only human," He teased. But the warm moment was shattered with Ziva's voice:

"Gibbs, I think I have found them!"


	18. Chapter 17: Storm Front

I know this chapter is short, but this is the second to last chapter in this book. I'm hoping to post the final chapter sometime in the next two days. please enjoy!

* * *

><p>Xana, McGee, Tony and Ziva were in the back of the van while Gibbs drove to Storm Front Water Treatment Plant. McGee insisted on going since he was allowed to walk without crutches now. Gibbs pulled up to the plant. Xana held her breath and got out of the van. She ran over to the inside of the Plant. It was empty. It had to be. It had been abandoned for years. She put her hand to the ground and screamed in joy. "They're here! They're here!" She yelled happily. But then she frowned. "Only kids are here. Where are the adults? Where are the staff?" She whispered. Suddenly her jaw dropped. "The Final Test!" She whispered.<p>

"I'm sorry?" Tony asked.

"The Final Test! Diablo kept talking about it in the van. He's going to test all of the kids. The final test. He said after this test, their training was up. And only those strong enough would survive!" Xana yelled. "Search the building!"

"For what?" Gibbs yelled.

"I don't know!" The five began to look around the premesis. That's when Xana found it. "Bomb! Oh my gosh it's a bomb!" She yelled. Xana knew about bombs. She's defused several in the past five years. There was a dead man's switch on it. It was going to go off in two minuets and there was nothing anybody could do about it.

The agents began to crowd around looking at the bomb. "I will call Bomb Squad!" Ziva stated and got out her phone.

"It's no use! This is the Final Test Diablo was talking about! The water tank in here has most of the supports of the building. He's going to collapse the building! The kids who survive will be dubbed the strongest and their DNA used as the building blocks for the army!"

"Is there anyway the bomb could be stopped?" McGee asked.

"No. Wait a minuet," Xana knew there was one possibility that would maybe save everyone else's lives.

At the cost of her own.

"Get away!" Xana yelled. She ran into the room with the water tank and opened the drain. Water shot out of the hole. Xana ran out of the room and shut the door, wedging herself in the door frame, to keep the door from opening as the room filled with water.

"Xana what are you doing?" Tony yelled.

"Saving your butts!" She paused for a moment. "I'm returning a favor." She said, looking at McGee.

"How?" Tony yelled.

"If the room is filled with water, when the bomb goes off in a minuet and a half, the supports might not give way. And the building might not collapse,"

"Xana, then move!" Gibbs ordered.

"I can't! If I move, the door blows open and the building collapses!" She grunted in pain.

"If you don't move, when the bomb explodes, you'll die!" McGee yelled. Xana didn't say a word. She just smiled.

She knew.

"Xana, you can't! You… you can't!" McGee yelled.

"Hey, you saved my life, now I'm saving yours," She smiled in pain.

"No, Xana! I'm ordering you to get out of here! I'll hold the door," Gibbs ordered.

Xana gave a brilliant smile. "_You're_ ordering _me_? Um, I don't think so."

"You cannot!" Ziva yelled.

Xana glared at her. "Hey, it's not a puzzle, Ziva! No more puzzles! _We_ found the kids and El Diablo, _I_'_m_ going to save them. After this, it's _your_ job to free them! My work here is done. I'm sorry, but you're on your own now,"

_Tick, tick, tick…_

Xana shook her head. Fifteen seconds. Who knew this is how she would end. She didn't want to die. "Go. Go! GO!" She yelled. "You have to go now!" Gibbs nodded. Even he knew that this was inevitable. He pushed his team as far away as he could before…

_Three…two… one…_

The bomb exploded. The door broke off propelling Xana and a ton of water everywhere. The supports in the room cracked and crumbled. There was squeaking and snapping and cracking as the fire spread. The roof caved in dividing the room in two. The floor gave way into the basement.

The dust settled. "Over there!" McGee yelled, pointing to a half crushed, limp figured of Xana. The whole team ran over towards her, but fell to the ground as everything started rumbling. There was another bomb somewhere that had gone off. More rubble fell. The ground gave way even farther, most likely into the Lab.

All Hell broke loose. The walls and the ceiling caved in, trapping the NCIS agents. Xana fell through the ground, into the Lab. And into Kingdom Come.

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><p>Xana's final chapter is coming out soon. If you like Xana, check out my new story, McGee's Trudy!<p> 


	19. Final: Not in Vain

This is the final chapter of Xana! Please enjoy!

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><p>Tony leaned against the wall. They'd managed to get out, about three hours ago. They'd spent three hours searching for Xana. Three hours with no luck. Tony was done. They'd never find here. He leaned against the wall and got out his phone to call Gibbs, when he looked up and saw Xana standing there.<p>

Xana folded her arms across her chest. "I've done my part, here. Now you do yours."

Tony shook his head. "I'm sorry Xana. There's no way you could have survived that blast. Even if you did, after this long… I'm sorry Xana, but you're dead," He said sadly.

"So that's it then. You're just going to leave me here to rot. To be eaten by the wolves. Tony, I just gave my life for you. The least you could do for me would be to find me, and bury me,"

Tony sighed. "I know, Xana. I know," He whispered. But Xana was gone. And in her place stood Kate.

"Kate!" Tony cried.

Kate just looked at him. "Tony, what if it was me down there? Would you give up then?"

Tony looked away. Kate, too, was gone. But he knew what he had to do. He put the phone away and continued the search.

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.

Xana looked around. "Mom? Dad?" She asked the people up ahead. There was so much light! "Mom! Dad!" She cried. It_ was_ them! Not only that, but Sakura, Sousuke, Ryouji, Estumi, Nayoto, Gynji, and… Hestia! She ran up and hugged them all.

"Oh, Sakura, Sousuke, Hestia! I am so sorry!" She cried.

Sakura smiled. "It's alright. It was supposed to happen. It had to happen. We had to die. It was our time."

"Does that mean, this is heaven, and I am… I am…" Xana asked shakily.

Sousuke smiled sadly. "Yes. You're dead. I'm sorry,"

"It wasn't supposed to happen though," Hestia said. "You weren't supposed to die. The bomb wasn't supposed to go off. Out of all of the kids, Xana, only forty seven survived. Two hundred and three kids died Xana!" Hestia cried. "They weren't supposed to die. _You_ weren't supposed to die." Hestia said sadly.

Xana looked around. "Ayumi. Where is Ayumi?"

Another figure stepped forward. It was Kate. From NCIS. She didn't know why, but somehow, she knew Kate. "Xana, this is Kate," Hestia introduced her.

"Xana. You have to go back. You weren't supposed to die. You have to go back!" Kate said.

"Where's Ayumi!" Xana asked again.

Ryouji stepped forward. "Xana, Ayumi is still alive!" He said.

Xana's eyes widened and she ran forward and hugged him. "She's alive! She's alive! I'm not alone!" She looked up at Ryouji and her voice became sad. "Oh Ryouji, why did you die? I didn't want you to die! Why?"

Ryouji smiled sadly. "It was my time, Xana. Everything has a purpose for living and for dying. If we hadn't died and left you thinking only Sakura and Sousuke had survived, what would have driven you? What would have compelled you? Nothing. Xana, if we hadn't died, none what you have done would have happened! You would dead, your NCIS friend would all be dead, several of the kids who were alive before would be dead. Hestia never would have been freed, and Diablo would still be allusive. Xana, if we hadn't died, everything would have been much worse! We had to die! And you have to go! You have to live! It's your destiny,"

Xana looked at him sadly, as Kate took her hand. "I know. I don't want to leave, but I think I understand now. Thank you. For being part of my life. Thank you," She turned to Kate. "I'm ready,"

"Wait!" A tiny voice cried. Xana turned to see Genji. He was so small, his ability to speak took her by surprise. "Wait, Xana! When you see Ayumi, tell her not to feel guilty. She's my big sister, I don't need her to tell her she loves me. I knew that already!" He cried.

Xana nodded and lead her away. Away into life.

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.

Xana took a deep breath and looked around. She coughed. "Ayumi is alive..." she breathed. Her whole body hurt. There were shards of metal sticking out of her body. She was heavily bleeding. "Where am I?" She asked.

"So, you _are_ still alive," A deep voice said.

Xana turned to look into the barrel of a gun. She slowly stood up. "Diablo," She hissed.

Diablo smirked. "To bad you couldn't have just stayed dead. Would have saved me a whole lotta trouble. Oh well," He pulled the trigger, but Xana kicked it out of his hands.

"Why now? Why just up and hold the Final Test now? Oh wait, I know. Cancer. You have cancer. You have maybe three months to live. Your dying. And now that you know what it feels like, the guilt is killing you! Iknow, believe me,"

"How did you know that?" Diablo hissed.

"I can see it all, in your eyes. You can see a lot in a person's eyes. Like their grief when someone kills their whole family then locks them away for five years,"

"If you are going to kill me, go ahead, and kill me already,"

"You know, I've been planning for this day, every day, for the past five years. I was planning to shoot you. Over and over again. Not fatal shots, though. Just enough to make you suffer. Suffer like my whole family did," She pointed the gun at him. She fired. It hit the wall. She threw the gun. "But then I learned that my family's death was not in vain. You're not worth it. No one deserves to suffer. Not even you. You killed my whole family, Diablo. And guess, what?"

Diablo smirked, reaching for something to bash the girl's skull in with. "What?" He asked picking up a pipe.

"I forgive you. Thank you, El Diablo, for giving me life. For creating me. You created life. And you took life away. But I forgive you," Xana smiled. For the first time since her family had been slaughtered, Xana felt happy. Truly happy. It was good to be alive.

Diablo came at her with the pipe. There was a gun shot and he stopped. His eyes rolled to the back of his head. Blood oozed out of the bullet wound on his forehead. He stood standing then fell to his knees. After so many years, El Diablo was dead. Danny stood right behind him, clutching the gun. Xana ran up to him and hugged him.

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.

"Xana!" McGee yelled with happiness, when she and Danny emerged from the darkness. Everyone turned. All eyes were on her.

"What?" Xana asked.

They all ran up to her and caught her in a fierce hugs.

"What happened?" Gibbs demanded.

"Ow ow ow!" Xana cried when they caught her in a hug. "I have good new and bad news. Bad: Only forty sever of the kids are still alive. Good: El Diablo is dead. We're free." A smile crossed her face and she turned to Danny. "We're free! We're free!" She yelled. The two of them started jumping up and down, while Gibbs called in a search party to look for survivors.

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.

All of the survivors were rounded up. Only four babies had survived in the test tubes, but were, with help are paramedics, brought "into the world".

"Are you ready to see the sun?" Xana asked, her heart filled with happiness. Danny nodded and she lead him outside. He gasped when he saw the sun, the grass the colors.

One by one, all of the kids were lead outside. There was happiness and screams and tears of joy. Joy for the colors, joy for the sun. Those who were too young, or too injured to walk were carried outside.

Gibbs walked out holding the hands of two little girls. Tony carried the only two little boys, while Ziva lead behind her, seven small children who were in a train holding each others hands. McGee walked outside holding the hand of a five year old boy who was also named Tim, and carrying a three year old girl with long brown hair and grey eyes, who was named Anastasia. It was the happiest moment in a long time.

After hand the children off, Tony walked up to Ziva, blushing. "Ziva…" He started. "There's something I've wanted to tell you for a long time-"

"Oh, shut up, Tony," Ziva interrupted. She grabbed his shirt and pulled him into a kiss.

Xana watched the kiss and nudged McGee in the ribs. "Looks like I win the bet. Ten bucks,"

McGee set down Anastasia and took out ten bucks, handing it to her.

"Thanks for your business. Oh, and tell Abby I said "hi"." She said smiling. McGee reddened quite a bit.

Danny walked up to Xana. "Actually, Xana, I've wanted to say the same thing for a -"

Xana put a finger over his lips. "Hey, I'm just a kid. Love is adult crap. Let me enjoy my childhood for a while, ok?" She asked.

Danny nodded and smiled. Xana leaned over and kissed him on the lips then walked away. Danny just stood there for a moment, his mouth hanging open in utter shock.

McGee put a hand on his shoulder. Danny looked up. "Girls. Go figure." Danny said. McGee just nodded.

McGee's stomach was killing him at the moment, but that was beside the point. He was glad Xana had shot him. If she hadn't, he never would have met Xana or Hestia, or ever even told Abby that he loved her.

Suddenly McGee's phone rang. He answered it. "Hey Abs. No, Abby, we're fine. No… ok I'll tell her you said hi. Oh, um Tony?" McGee glanced over at Tony who was kissing Ziva again. "No um, Tony's preoccupied. Can I have him call you back? Yeah, I'll tell him you said that. Ziva? No, she's busy at the moment. No they are _not_ making out. Ok, define 'making out'. Oh. …well when you put it _that _way… What? Abby! That's disgusting! I'm hanging up! Fine! You are so immature! Don't change the subject! I do like Chinese, though. But still!" Suddenly, Anastasia started pulling on his pant leg. "Hey, Abs, I've gotta got. I will tell Gibbs you said hi. Thanks Abs. I love you too," McGee smiled and hung up the phone. He picked up Anastasia and watched Gibbs and Xana play with some of the younger kids.

McGee smiled even wider when another person walked into the crime scene. Xana and Gibbs both looked up. "Ayumi?" Xana asked standing up.

"Xana!" Ayumi cried.

"Ayumi!" Xana ran and embraced Ayumi for all of the life of her. "Genji told me he loves you. And that you don't need to tell him you love him because he already knows that you do," Xana said in one breath. Ayumi nodded shakily.

McGee smiled. Finally, a family had been reunited.

All was good in the world.

All was good.

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><p>Thanks for reading Xana! I might post an epilog if you really want me to. Thank you so much for your reviews and alerts! It means so much to me! Thank you!<p> 


	20. Epilog

I had to put an epilog because I had some loose ends to tie. This is Xana's POV. Thank you for reading!

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><p>And so, my story has come to an end. What began with the freedom of children, ends with the freedom of children. And after twenty long years, El Diablo met his fate. It's always sad when something dies and no one sheds a tear. That is why I cry now. Not for the death of El Diablo, but for the death of a man who could have been. Not for the choices he made, but for the choices he could have made. But still, I thank him. For giving me life. For giving us all life.<p>

It will be hard to go back. To be accepted into regular society. Even for someone like me, who began in normal society, we can never go back. Nothing will be the same; it will be better. The things we leave with us, will always be a gift, as well as a curse. But it doesn't matter. The things we see, the thing we saw, we will never forget. But will forgive, and in forgiveness, be at peace.

I remember, before, I feared we would not be accepted into society. But was wrong. Our story has been heard all around the world. And to the world, we heroes. We are examples of freedom. Most of us now haves homes. I, myself, am living with Ayumi. It's not the same as before. And I will never forget my family, and I will miss them. But this, this is good enough. If I am correct, I do believe even little Anastasia has found a home; after winning the heart of one, Timothy McGee, she found a home with him, when he adopted her.

I remember the day that the doctors found a cure for our unstable DNA. DNA is like a computer, who uses a series of "1"s and "0"s to create a program or command. If something interrupts the pattern, the program can't function. The same goes with DNA. If a problem finds its way into the pattern, the DNA can't hold itself together and we disappear. The problem gene can be removed like a cancer cell. Now we all have the opportunity to live like we should.

I have been given the opportunity to attend school. I accepted. Not for the education, no, so I could meet new people and exercise my agency. My right to choose. I have found, in this world, that the three most important gifts are:

The Gift of Life

The Gift of Agency

The Gift of Memory

Though seemingly accursed my memories are, I have learned much from them. I look at everything now with new eyes. And what a glorious world it is.

A wise man once told me that: "We are born as many men, but die as a single one". For us, who have never been able to choose for ourselves, since the day we were born, have had our destinies laid out for us. Now we are free. We have been born as a single man, but hope to die as many.

The price of freedom is high. But the cost without it, is so much higher. Look with new eyes at the world that surrounds you. I'm sure you will find that it is far more glorious that ever you could imagine. Remember you are free, and take every choice you make, with great pride. Live life with no regrets. And look with your eyes, at the beauty that surrounds you. You are free.

You are free.


End file.
